


Moments in Time (Marinette March 2019)

by LeSwanSong



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Gen, Marinette - Freeform, Marinette March
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-01
Updated: 2019-04-01
Packaged: 2019-11-07 13:05:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 31
Words: 20,802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17961089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeSwanSong/pseuds/LeSwanSong
Summary: Made for Marinette MarchThese are a series of loosely based story’s meant to tell different parts of our girl Marinette’s life.





	1. Day One: Kindness

**Author's Note:**

> AN: Before you read…
> 
> I tried to keep this light and fluffy as I’m trying to push myself to write lighter stories but there may be some darker tones in a few chapters e.g day 28 and day 9. 
> 
>  
> 
> Some Chapters are from other pov’s. Just a little warning.

If Adrien had to pick one of his favourite things about Marinette, it wouldn’t be her eyes, her smile or the fact that she was his partner in stopping crime, it would be her kindness. 

His mother would have liked her, Marinette often reminded him of her, with her acts of kindness. He first realized the scope of it when she hid the fact that she was the one to make his favourite scarf, Then he saw it everywhere. He saw it when she looked after little Manon when a breaking news story needed Nadia, when she made birthday and Christmas presents for the class not expecting one in return, she had helped Nino prepare a surprise date for Alya within 10 minutes; Her time as Ladybug also point her kindness on show, calming scared and confused children just after spending half an hour fighting them. 

He pulled himself out of reminiscing to look back at the black haired girl, she wore a red spotted dress, a small call back to her days running along rooftops, she was absentmindedly wondering the small outdoor garden, her trusty sketchbook in hand, she really was amazing, he looked down at the small diamond ring in his hand, he was ready, ready to spend the rest of his life experiencing that kindness. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come follow me on Tumblr - https://laswansong.tumblr.com/ ヾ(〃^∇^)ﾉ


	2. Day Two: Pre-Origins

Marinette stood behind the front counter, the family bakery sat empty for the first time that day, it was only two o'clock but the midday rush had come and gone. Her sketchbook sat before her, Marinette clicked the pen trying to come up with a new design for the dress Nadia had commissioned her for but nothing had come to mind and her deadline was fast approaching, she sighed as she flicked through the pages.

 

Marinette was forced to look up from the pages when the ringing of the bell above the door erupted into the near silent bakery, a tall blond boy around her age walked through the door, his eyes were immediately drawn to the glass display cases lined with the bakers' famed goods. Marinette quickly pushed her sketchbook aside and put on a smile just as she had done thousands of times before and patiently waited for him to make his choice.

 

She cleared her throat before speaking, "Hello, what would you like?" she mentally kicked herself as she spoke, her voice was barely above a whisper.

 

The boy barely seemed to notice, he smiled back at her, "Truthfully, everything here but for now, just a chocolate croissant."

 

"Just one?" Marinette questioned.

 

The boy nodded his head.

 

"Okay then," she muttered under her breath.

 

She picked up a stray pair of tongs and a brown paper bag before she made her way over to the glass display case housing the croissants.

 

"Which one did you want?" she questioned, indicating at the line of chocolate croissants.

 

The boy pointed at one and Marinette quickly scooped it up as well as a second one when the boy turned his back.

 

"Anything else," she asked already knowing the answer was no.

 

He shook his head, he already had the exact change needed in his hands, Marinette walked back to the counter and set the bag down. She plugged in the information to the register and read it out to him. He handed her the change and quickly swooped the paper bag off the counter.

 

"have a nice day!" she called as he walked out of the bakery, she followed him with her eyes through the bakery windows until he was out of sight.

 

"He was kinda cute wasn't he?"

 

Marinette jumped at the sound of her mother's voice behind her, she could feel her cheeks grow red at her mothers' words, she couldn't deny it, the boy was cute.

 

"Maybe you'll see him in school this year," her mother whispered into her ear before returning back to the ovens.

 

Marinette pulled her sketchbook back in front of her.

 

"Maybe," she whispered to herself, "maybe."

 

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come follow me on Tumblr - https://laswansong.tumblr.com/ ヾ(〃^∇^)ﾉ


	3. Day Three: Tea Time

 

 

Marinette rushed down her steps to the kitchen, the ring of the timer echoed throughout the tiny apartment, she could smell the burning of her cookies in the oven. 

“No, No, No,” she muttered grabbing the oven mitts of the counter.

She flung the oven door open, a wave of heat hit her face as she grabbed hold of the tray. She held her breath as she inspected the cookies, some were blackened but most were editable she quickly scoped them off the tray onto an awaiting plate, burning her fingers slightly in the process.

“They look good Marinette.”    

“Well if the girls don’t eat them I know you will,” she teased, “Come on Tikki lets get back to the tea party.”

“It's amazing to see how much the girls have grown.”

“It is.”

Marinette could remember the day Alya had told her she was pregnant, it was three days from graduation, the stress of the exams had worn off and the planning for the future had started, Marinette couldn’t imagine raising children of her own yet but Alya was excited, she had already had names picked. Marinette went to almost every doctor's appointment, she was there when Alya was told she was carrying twins. That was now almost four years ago and the girls had grown up fast.

Marinette slowly started up the steps to her old bedroom her Kwami hid under her dress as she walked into the room. Marinette almost dropped the plate she was holding as she stared at her partner sitting at the small table, he gave her a small wave.

“Hello Chat Noir what brings you here,” Marinette could see that her boyfriend understood her tone of voice, she was pissed.

He mouthed her a quick sorry before replying, “Having tea with these two lovely lady’s.”

The two girls let out a giggle before returning to pouring _‘tea’_ into the plastic cups.

She sent him a small smile, “well since you are here you can come and help me bring the cake up.”

He quickly got on his feet and followed her down the stairs back into the kitchen.

“Sorry, I forgot you were babysitting tonight,” he whispered

“I can see that, you know Alya is going to have a field day interrogating them.”

She opened the glass cake display stand, removing the caramel cake from the stand, she quickly cut four pieces and plated them.

“Yep…”

“It’s good to see you, Adrien,” she whispered.

“Its good to see you too,” he leaned down to place a kiss on her lips but quickly found himself being pushed away.

“Not in the suit,”

“But were alone.”

“No, there are two very nosy children upstairs that take after their mother.”

“Once they are gone?”

“Then maybe you can have one.”

“I’ll take that chance.”

Marinette quickly threw her arms around him, she felt his strong arms wrap around her waist.

“Come on Princess, we need to head back upstairs,” he whispered to her.

“I know just give me a second,” she whispered back.

She regrettably separated herself from her partner's arms.

“Come on then,” she said picking up two of the plates, let's get back to the tea party.

She once again climbed the steps to the room above, the two girls Ella and Cadence were deep in conversation and pouring tea into the plastic cups. Marinette quickly sat down at the small table.

“Would you like some tea, Auntie Marinette?” Cadence asked.

“Yes I would like some tea, would you like some cake?”

The girl quickly nodded her head.

“Have you asked Mister Bare if he would like some tea?” Marinette asked the girls.

“I did but he said no,” Ella responded

Marinette moved the plates in front of the girls, she smiled when she saw the girls quickly dig into the slices but Marinette couldn’t shake her partner's eyes.

“Chat? Aren’t you going to eat?” she looked him in the eyes as she asked.

“uhh… yes…” He stuttered out.

Marinette chuckled internally, she had could him off guard.

“Would you like some tea Chat Noir?”

“Yes, I would, Miss Cadence.”

The small girl moved the plastic teapot towards his cup.

“Our Maman says you used to fight monsters.”

Marinette looked at Ella then back at her partner, she had wondered when the question of the Akuma’s would be asked.

Her partner Cleared his throat before trying his best to explain to the girls, she tried her best to pay attention but she could see a red spot pop up through the centre of the table grab a cookie before disappearing again, it was distracting, she waited for her Kwami to appear again, when she did Marinette quickly reached out and grabbed her, stuffing her into her jacket pocket.

“Were you ever scared?” Little Ella asked.

Marinette watched as he partner shook his head, she knew he was lying but he was trying his best to put on a brave face for the little girls.

“It must have been cool,” Cadence responded excitedly.

“Yeah, it was at times, your mother can tell you more about it she would always be on the frontlines reporting it live to the world.”

The girls quickly turned and whispered to each other excitedly before returning back to the tea before them.

The girls continued to question Chat just as their mother would do and Chat tried his best to question them.

“Ella? Cadence?”

Marinette’s eyes grew wide at the sound at Alya’s voice in the kitchen below, Marinette turned back to the table to see that her partner had disappeared. She turned back to see Alya now stood in her bedroom.

“Hi, Alya."

 

-=+=-

 

Marinette waved goodbye to Alya and her two girls before heading back inside, she was relieved that Alya hadn’t picked up on the fact that she wasn’t alone. She put her back against the door in relief.

“I’d say that that was a successful date.”

Marinette shot him an angry glare.

“Sorry.”

“You’re lucky that you were quick if Alya had seen you…”

“But she didn’t Mari,” he responded cutting her off.

Adrien quickly made his way down the steps towards her, “so when is our next tea time date?”

She let out a giggle, “whenever you like but we better head back upstairs, there’s an almost full plate of cookies upstairs and I have a missing Kwami."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come follow me on Tumblr - https://leswansong.tumblr.com/ ヾ(〃^∇^)ﾉ


	4. Day Four: Affection

Marinette couldn’t deny the affection she felt for her partner, it started out as something simple, One comment from Alya was all it took. She could feel his eyes, the eyes that held so much affection, she wondered how she hadn’t seen it before, had her love for Adrien really blinded her that much, she knew that Chat liked her, but she underestimated just how much. She looked over to her partner and felt her heart soften even more.

 

“What's wrong Chaton?”

 

    “Nothing My Lady, just life getting me down.”

 

“Did you want a hug?”

 

She asked more for him than herself, the frown across his face concerned her, it had replaced his normal bright smile.

 

“I would love a hug from you, My Lady.”

 

she shuffled over to him and rested her head against his shoulder, she giggled when the loud rumbling in his chest erupted into a loud purr.

 

“You know you don’t have to be embraced about it, I get drawn to certain flowers while out running.”

 

He softened at her words, she could feel his mussels relax as he pulled her closer towards himself, she welcomed the warm embrace as they watched the sunset over the Parisian skyline. She couldn’t deny the love and affection she was feeling sitting on the rooftop next to him

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New Tumblr - Cause my on my last one my post weren't showing up in any of the tags
> 
> https://leswansong.tumblr.com


	5. Day Five: Garden

Marinette rushed around the Apartment moving potted plant after potted plant out of the way as she swept the remains and soil of her favourite plant into the awaiting dustpan her Kwami was holding.

 

“Thank-you Tikki,” she whispered half out of breath.

    

“No problem Marinette,” The Kwami chirped back.

 

She took the dustpan from her Kwami and moved towards the kitchen almost tripping over a stray shoe. She looked down at broken shards, she was tempted to glue them together in an attempt to fix the damage.

 

“Mari!” a voice called excitedly.

 

She spun around on her feet to face her boyfriend, a little surprised at the fact she hadn't heard his keys in the lock, she had hoped to have sold all of the plants by the time he got back from his 2-month work trip, but that hadn’t gone exactly to plan.

 

“Sorry…” she said quietly.

    

“Please tell me this is a faze,” he was looking wide-eyed at the large amounts of plants gathered in the small living room.

 

“I was trying to make some extra money and it kinda…”

    

“Got out of control?” he responded finishing her sentence.

 

Marinette nodded her head, “yeah, I have some people coming over to pick a few up.”

    

“I mean I didn’t expect to come home to find my living room had become a garden but I’d say that this is a nice surprise.”

 

Adrien had slowly maneuvered his way around the large indoor plants to her side, he gently wrapped his arms around her waist pulling her closer to him, he placed a small kiss on her forehead.

 

“I missed you, My Lady.”

    

“I missed you too Adrien, I would offer to make dinner but I currently have succulents in the sink.”

 

“Do I even want to know?”

    

“Your cat knocked the pot off the buffet.”

 

“Mari why would you say that about Boots, she the sweetest thing in the world,” he teased.

 

The small black an white cat had shown up on their doorstep 3 weeks after they moved into the small 2 bedroom apartment and in the 8 months since then the cat had managed to break anything and everything, her small marble pot had just been the latest victim.

 

“I’ll buy you a new one when I head into work tomorrow,” he promised.

    

Marinette shook her head, “Don’t bother, I bought a spare one, I knew that the first one would end up broken.”

 

“So tell me, what are we going to do with our new indoor garden?”

    

“I’ll move them out onto the balcony for tonight but I’ll have to bring them in and find them a proper home inside.”

 

“Hmm, sounds like a plan."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come follow me on Tumblr - https://leswansong.tumblr.com/ ヾ(〃^∇^)ﾉ


	6. Day 6: Creation

All of Tikki’s chosen's had creative traits, their mastery of creation helped them in the suit but none of them were as skilled as Marinette, He skills as a designer improved her chances of ‘Lucky Charm’ succeeding, she remembers it taking her previous chosen’ weeks to even successfully summon the charm. Tikki was proud of the girl, although Marinette was hesitant at first she took to the role of protector extremely quickly, Marinette seemed to pride herself on it too.

 

Tikki had never seen her chosen work before, It had only been a few days since the two had been paired together so Tikki was surprised to see the girl working in the early hours of the morning on her creation.

 

She watched secretly from the bed above as her chosen's hand expertly stitched the pattern into the red Cheongsam, Tikki assumed it was for her mother, the small Chinese woman who’s cookies she absolutely adored. Tikki was unsure how Marinette had kept the dress secret, she seemed to only work on it at night when the Kwami was asleep it was only now when she was having trouble sleeping did she realize. She was excited to see the creation come to life, the red and gold fabric shimmered in the low light, She had wondered what the fabric was for after they had search half of Paris for it.

 

She watched patiently as Marinette slowly embroidered a flower into the fabric, she seemed to double check before finally pulling the thread through, she was mesmerized by the care the girl was putting into the dress, she couldn't wait to see the girls future creations but for now, she just watched in silence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come follow me on Tumblr - https://leswansong.tumblr.com/ ヾ(〃^∇^)ﾉ


	7. Day Seven: Side Effects

Sometimes Marinette hated working in her parent's bakery, it got flour everywhere including her hair but the time she spent with her parents made it all worth it even with all the side effects.

 

She looked at herself in her small full-length mirror, the results of an impromptu flour fight with her father, her face was ghostly white, she could just see the dark shade of her raven black hair peeking through the thick layer of flour covering it. The temptation to jump into a nice warm shower was almost too strong to resist but she had to, she had to meet Chat for patrol.

 

She quickly tried dusting the flour off leaving only a light white hue to her hair.

 

“It’ll have to do,” she murmured.

 

* * *

 

Her partner was already standing on the small rooftop awaiting for her arrival, she noticed his cat ears flicked over towards her, he must have picked up on her footsteps, she thought.

 

“Hello, My Lady.”

 

He didn’t look away from the street from below, his tail flicked wildly behind him, she couldn’t see his eyes but she knew they would be black, he was watching something, she had once described it as hunting but the downtrodden look she had gotten from him made her feel horrible so she elected to never use that term again.

 

“Have you? Have you got flour in your hair?”

 

“What? No!” she quickly sputtered out in surprise, she didn’t think he would notice that quickly.

 

She opened her mouth to try and explain but was cut off with her partners chuckle, “Calm down My Lady, Plagg told me months ago that your Kwami eats cookies, the flours from baking them right?”

 

“Uhh… Yeah…”

 

“Plagg likes cheese,” he continued, “Camembert specifically, I wish I could make his food but I don’t think my father would enjoy-“

 

The loud Akuma sirens ripped through the air, they could only mean one thing, Marinette let out a sigh, she was having such a nice day.

 

 

Marinette groaned in pain as she rolled on the floor in pain, she couldn’t understand how she didn’t see the hit coming, she glanced over at her partner, he had been hit by the Akuma’s attack while trying to push her out of the way early on and he was starting to feel the side effects of it. Marinette tried to push herself to her feet but the once dull pain in her stomach grew so much more painful as she tried to stand forcing her to lay back down.

 

“My Lady?” Her partner called through gritted teeth, “We need to move.”

 

She nodded her head, pushing through the pain Marinette stood shakily on her two legs, she hobbled over towards her partner who too was now standing. He was visibly in pain now as the sweat slowly dripped down his face, Marinette really hated heat based Akuma’s.

 

“You need to jump into a pool or a cold shower, you look terrible.”

 

He gave her a small smile all the while holding back the pain, “you’re welcome to join me after we defeat the Akuma, I think it might be in the pearl necklace.”

 

“Thanks, Kitty but no thank-you,” she whispered.

 

She took a small confident step towards the Akuma but quickly found herself crumpled to the floor, she hissed in pain and stumbled back to her feet.

 

“My Lady, please, you-“

 

Marinette didn’t hear him finish, instead, she felt the hot blast of heat, throwing her back towards the hard concrete sidewalk. She heard Chat screaming her name but her mind was elsewhere, she felt her skin burning underneath her suit, she clawed at it trying to get the skin tight fabric off of her.

 

Her partner's hands grabbed her wrists trying to restrain her, “Ladybug, stop, I need you to purify the Akuma.”

 

She looked into his green eyes feeling herself calm down slightly, her eye’s flickered down to his hand, clutched within his grasp was the pearl necklace, she nodded her head silently telling him to destroy the necklace. The small black butterfly sprang free from the black powdered remains, she caught it just as she had caught its sister's hundreds of times before.

 

Her chest heaved as her head pounded from the ever growing heat pulsating throughout her body, she shivered even though she was sweating heavily.

 

“My Lady,” her partner whispered, “The Cure.”

 

She struggled to speak with herders throat but she still managed to call the cure, she instantly felt some relief from the heat. There was the shuffling of feet beside her before her partner plopped down beside her.

 

“That…” he said gasping for air, “That was some Akuma.”

 

She giggled, “yeah, it was.”

 

“Ice cream?” he asked.

 

“Ice cream,” she agreed.


	8. Day Eight: Partners

The two heroes sat silently on the rooftop over Paris, they had known each other for a week now but the awkward nature between each other had not yet passed.

 

“20 questions,” She said suddenly.

 

“What?”

 

“We’ll play 20 questions, it’ll help us get past this…” she struggled to find the word.

 

“Awkwardness?”

 

“That's the word, Awkwardness between us."

 

“Okay then, My Lady, What’s your… Favourite pastry?”

 

She smiled at his question, she pretended to think of an answer, “hmmm… Carmel slice.”

 

“Really?”

 

“Yes, what's wrong about that?”

 

“Nothing just thought you would like danishes more…”

 

“Nope, caramel slice, how about you?”

 

Her partner paused to think, his tail flicked behind him as he tried to concentrate.

 

“All of them.”

 

She giggled at his response, “you have to pick one.”

 

“I can’t, they’re all so nice.”

 

“But there has to be one you like over all of them.”

 

“Maybe if you bring some I’ll be able to narrow it down.”

 

“Chat!” she whined.

 

“Okay, okay there is one but its-“

 

“Chat if you..”She warned him cutting him off.

 

He waved his hands at her, “No serious, I prefer the simple and common croissant.”

 

“Really?”

 

“Yep, My next question is…”

 

“Hey! I didn’t get to ask.”

“You asked what my favourite pastry was.”

 

“But… Never mind go head,” she said admitting defeat.

 

“Ladybug, ask your question.”

 

She gave him a small smile, “are you sure?”

 

He nodded his head.

 

“Favourite Memory, Mine is my mother and father teaching me how to bake cookies, I was 5 and… And my father accidentally knocked the bag of flour over my head, well that's what he said happened but I think he did it on purpose,” she could recall the memory as if it had only happened the day before.

 

“Mine… Mine is of my mother… it was a few days before she… she was humming to the tune of the song I had been trying to learn, she was sorting through some of my father's files, it's not that-“

 

“It's beautiful,” Marinette could picture it in her mind her own mother humming to the music she had been playing upstairs while ordering all of the bakery’s needs for the next month.

 

“Thank you… My question now?”

 

she nodded her head

 

“Hobbies?”

 

“I… Hmm… drawing,” she didn’t feel comfortable telling him the truth but settled on a partial truth, “you?”

 

“Many, my father insists on them but I like Playing the piano, helps calm my mind.

 

“How did you start?”

 

“Are you wasting your question on that.”

 

She sighed, “Yes.”

 

“My father, we used to have a grand piano in the dining room but he used to play it just before dinner, and the music would fill the house, I remember the smile across my mothers face from it, I guess it was one of the reasons, Now My question again, what are we?”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“like am I the sidekick or-“

 

“Partners," she said cutting him off, "we are partners."


	9. Day Nine: Dreams

 

Marinette hated sleeping, the dreams she had haunted her, she enjoyed the nights where she had no dreams at all the meant she wouldn’t be tormented by the images her mind forced upon her, she missed the days of light fluffy and sometimes confusing dreams but lately her nightmares seemed to be the only dreams she had. Her parents had given up on comforting her months ago at her request, Tikki hadn’t even after she had asked her not to bother anymore. She tried her best to calm her racing heart and heavy breathing, tonight's torment was a different one than her normal tormented nights.

 

Her partner featured in it, she couldn’t stop the pain her failures were causing him, she had awoken herself by screaming his name, she felt the wet remains of her tears left on her face, she couldn’t get the pictures out of her head. She looked over at the bottle of sleeping pills on her shelf, she tried not to use them too often as they through threw her sleeping schedule off, reluctantly she twisted the lid off the bottle and downed two pills, they would take a while to act but it would stop the nightmares for a while.

 

* * *

 

 

“Maybe you should talk to Chat.”

 

“And make him worry, no thanks Tikki.”

 

* * *

 

 

Marinette couldn’t remember sitting up in bed, the dream had gripped her, the images still flashed in her head, her partner had laid dead at her feet, his face stained red with his blood, she had accidentally reached down and dislodged his mask revealing who he was, his face was still in her minds eye. She didn’t dare stop the tears from falling, her small Kwami hovered next to her in her best to comfort the crying girl.

 

“Tikki? Is Adrien Chat?”

 

“Marinette I can’t.”

 

“Please,” she sobbed.

 

The Kwami paused before nodding her head.

 

“Thank-you,” she whispered.

 

She didn’t bother asking her Kwami if she could transform she just whispered the words and quickly navigated her way towards the cream-colored Agreste mansion.

 

* * *

 

 

She gently pushed against the glass window to the bathroom, she felt horrible for breaking in but she needed to see him, she needed to make sure that he was okay, the window slowly swung open granting Marinette access to the Mansion, she headed straight towards the sleeping form of her partner, she was relieved to see his chest slowly and rising with every breath, she knew he was going to be okay and her dream wasn’t real but she needed to see.

 

“Plagg?” she got no response, “Plagg, I know you’re here, Tikki she-“

 

“Told you?”

 

“yes… I pushed her too.”

 

“The nightmares got to you didn’t they?”

 

“You-“

 

He didn’t let her finish, “The kid gets them occasionally and Tikki mentioned months ago that they were affecting you a lot worse.”

 

“I needed to see.”

 

“I understand, you best get some sleep, if you go back to that bakery you’ll just be running back here.”

 

Marinette nodded her head and walked over to the large white lounge and settled in for the night. She felt a blanket being draped over her just before she drifted off to sleep.

 

* * *

 

 

Adrien slowly blinked himself awake, his alarm blared loudly beside his bed, he angrily bashed his hand against it when he couldn’t get it to stop. He rubbed his eyes before slowly making his way towards his bathroom.

 

He frowned when he found the bathroom window open, he would have to talk to Plagg about leaving the window open during the night, he picked up his toothbrush and started getting ready for the long day ahead.

 

 

“Plagg, Why did you leave the window open last night?”

 

“I didn’t.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“I didn’t leave it open.”

 

Adrien was confused, he took a step towards his Kwami when the red lump of fabric caught his eye.

 

“Nightmares,” was the only thing Plagg said and he knew immediately understood.

 

He hopped over the back of the lounge and pulled her towards him to try and comfort her, he would ask her how she got there later.


	10. Day Ten: Video Games

Marinette sat on her bed, her phone clutched close to her face as she silently read the fan fiction on screen, she didn’t know how Alya had gotten her hooked on it, but now she was 30 chapters in and couldn’t put it down.

 

“Hey, Princess.”

 

She jumped in surprise at the sound of her partner's voice, she could normally hear the thud of his boots on the balcony above.

 

“Chat?”

    

“The one and only,” he responded in his normal playful tone.

 

“Chat,” she warned, informing him to get to the point.

    

“I was wondering what… What…” He let out a frustrated groan as he stuttered over his words.

 

“Just start over okay?”

 

She patted the spot in front of her motioning for him to sit down, he took her offer and quickly snuck through the trapdoor.

 

“It’s Valentine's day and I was wondering…”

   

She cut him off before he could finish, “are you trying to ask me on a date Chaton?” She hoped he picked up on her slightly playful tone.

 

His cheeks went red but he nodded his head, “I kinda am,” he whispered.

 

Marinette looked away from him to ponder his question.

 

“Why?”

    

“Huh?”

 

“Why ask me? Why aren’t you asking Ladybug?”

    

“Marinette…”

 

“Chat, why?”

    

“Ladybug would say no, she always will and I admire her for that, she’s trying not to lead me on.”

 

She paused, so he had realized what her intentions had been, but it still didn’t answer her question.

 

“So, why me?”

    

“I…”

 

“Spit it out kitty.”

    

“I… I don’t want to be alone.”

 

She gave him a sad smile, “Chat, you don’t have to ask me on a date just so you won't be alone.”

   

”I didn't know how to ask.”

 

”Well luckily for you I don't have a date but what I do have is a spare controller and some levelling up to do.”

 

The hero's eyes lit up at the offer, it wasn't long before he was showing off his video game skills, much to Marinette’s surprise, he seemed to match her blow for blow.


	11. Day Eleven: Guardian

Marinette set the old ornate grammar phone down on her small dining room table, she hadn’t seen it in several years and was surprised to see it inside the large neatly wrapped box sitting on her doorstep, It was just as she remembered it, she wondered if it still held the small mahogany box within it, she pressed the red ruby eyes on the twin dragons, then the familiar coded pin. The small box rose from the safe confines, she couldn’t help but remove the box and open it, the powerful jewelry was still nestled in their places, she ran her fingers over her old earrings and her husband's ring. She looked back at the box looking for any sort of note but there was none, she reached for the bracelet of the turtle, if anyone knew why the box was sent to her Wyazz would know.

 

“Miss Marinette, It is good to see you.”

 

“Wyazz, Where is Master Fu?”

 

“I believe you know Marinette.”

 

“But so soon, Adrien and I, we…”

 

A tear rolled down her face, she didn’t believe that the old master had passed.

 

“He told you long ago-“

 

“That if anything happened to him, I was the next guardian, I remember.”

 

“I believe your time has come.”

 

“Thank you Wayzz.”

 

The green Kwami nodded his head before returning to the bracelet.

 

She quickly returned the bracelet back to its home in the small box and placed it in the hollowed center of the grammar phone, she locked the lid to it.

 

There were many so many things going through Marinette’s mind, so many questions she wanted answers to but she couldn’t think of that now, Adrien was due to be home soon and she hadn’t started dinner yet.

 

 

“What’s with the grammar phone.”

 

“Hmm?” she questioned as she washed away the dirt from her hands, another potted plant had come to an unfortunate fate by their cat Boots.

 

“The large ornate one currently sitting on our table.”

 

“Oh… That one.”

 

“One? you’re saying there's more?”

 

She giggled, “No there’s just that one, Sorry Minou my mind is elsewhere.”

 

“Minou… I haven’t heard that one in a very long time, why have you picked that one.”

 

“Maybe I’ll tell you after dessert.”

 

“Please tell me its cake.”

 

“Cookies.”

 

“Hmmm… A second favorite.”

 

 

“So the grammar phone?”

 

“You’re very persistent Kitty,” she commented.

 

“I have reason to be, it mysteriously appeared in my dining room.”

 

“The Guardian…”

 

“Master Fu, did he send us a wedding present?” he joked still unaware of the old man's fate.

 

“He’s passed… He told me when we were still in high school that if something happened to him I was the new guardian.”

 

Her husband lowered his tone, “the box-“

 

“Is safe within.”

 

“That's good…”

 

They sat in silence morning the loss of their mentor.

 

“So what do we do now?”

 

“The same thing Master Fu did, protect the box.”

 

“Sounds boring.”

 

“Yeah but you know what makes it fun?”

 

“What would that be My Lady?”

 

“We get to run over the rooftops of Paris again.”

 

“You know, I like you being the guardian.”

 

“Come on Chaton before I change my mind.”

 

Her husband sprang up from his place on the floor towards the grammar phone eagerly awaiting the return of his Kwami.

 

She giggled maybe being the guardian wouldn’t be that bad...


	12. Day Twelve- Phone Theif

“Marinette! You have to stop solving your problems this way!” the small Kwami yelled.

 

Marinette felt bad for indulging in her terrible habit once again and each and every time she had proclaimed it was for the greater good, sure stealing Adrien’s phone to delete a voice mail wasn’t really for the greater good but more for her pride.

 

“Marinette! you have to return that.”

 

She looked down at the phone she had swiped accidentally off of the table thinking it was hers but after reading one of the text messages she couldn’t resist.

 

She had silently pocketed the device before circling back around a few minutes later with her best friend and grabbing her own phone.

 

Marinette looked around the small park before sitting down underneath the large oak tree, she looked back down at the phone, a simple grey case covered the back of the phone, the text message was still displayed on the home screen.

 

———————

 

**_Boss - ‘Butterfly released, Stay clear of downtown’_ **

 

———————

 

It still had the default background, and so it intrigued her, she swiped to open it only to be greeted with a password screen, she muttered a curse before returning to the home screen, looking at the notifications centre gave nothing away at the owner's identity she would have to sit and wait.

 

“What have you got there?”

 

She looked up to see her partners face although he was yet to find out who she was.

 

“Adrien?”

 

“May I sit?” he asked in his normal polite tone.

 

Marinette slowly nodded her head slipping the strangers phone into her pocket.

 

“You get a new phone or something?”

 

“I mistook it for mine, I only just realized it,” she decided that it was better, to tell the truth in this instance.

 

“Did you want me to have a look?”

 

“No, I’m sure the person will try calling it soon, I plan on explaining what happened when I return it."

 

Then the familiar sound of a siren distracted her from the conversation, she looked off in the direction of it it was coming from… she froze, it was coming from… downtown.

 

She sprinted towards it leaving her partner behind, she had to be sure, it couldn’t be a false alarm.

 

Sure enough, a large creature made out of fog stood in the centre of the street. She pulled the phone back out of her pocket and looked at it, it was the link she had been searching for.

 

“Marinette?”

 

“We need to find out who owns the phone.”

 

“Well duh silly, they are most likely looking for it now.”

 

“No, it's not that, they Know who Hawkmoth is, he warned them about the Akuma.”

 

She saw her happy cheerful Kwami metaphorically defeat, “Oh…”

 

“We’ll solve this mystery later right now the Akuma.”

 

The small Kwami nodded her head, “ready when you are.”

 

Marinette quickly ducked into cover before muttering her transformation phrase and leapt into the fray.

 

* * *

 

“Chat?”

 

“Yes My Lady?”

 

“Meet me at our spot… tonight, at midnight,” she quickly added.

 

“You know people are going to talk…” he murmured down to her in his flirt tone.

 

Marinette let out an audible groan and punched him in the arm.

 

“Okay, Okay, I’m sorry, I know you didn’t mean it like that.”

 

“I know you did, just… please meet me it's important.”

 

“I will…”

 

He gave her his signature salute before leaping off the roof, she heard his baton extend into the pavement below, he once appeared in her field of view, she let out a chuckle at her partners antics as she watched him showing off, she still found it hard to believe who he really was under the mask. Her mind turned back to the phone that was still in her bag, she was going to get to the bottom of it.

 

* * *

 

“Marinette?”

 

“Yes Tikki,” Marinette responded as she settled into her mattress, the phone sat turned off on the desk below.

 

“Never let me yell at you for your bad habits again.”

 

“I won’t but you’re right, I shouldn't have taken the phone.”

 

“Maybe one day Marinette you’ll grow out of that terrible habit.”


	13. Day Thirteen - Akuma-nette

“Okay so sunshine child is sunshine child so we know he won’t be akumatized.”

“Hey!” Adrien yelled defensively to Alya’s comment causing Marinette to let out a giggle.

“So I now ask what our resident free baked goods suppliers powers would be?”

Marinette had never really put much thought on what her powers would be mainly because if she was akumatized her partner would have to fight her and it was an idea she never wanted to entertain.

“Throwing baked goods?” Nino responded.

“Nino, could you at least try?” Alya told her boyfriend.

“Wouldn’t she wrap people that have wronged her in thick ribbons.”

“That's a good one, Thank-you Adrien.”

Marinette drowned out the conversation, she enjoyed some of her friends antics, theorizing about someone’s potential powers had quickly become Alya’s new addiction, the powers they had come up with could write multiple fantasy style books, it was a shame that Alya had decided on becoming a reporter and not a writer Marinette believed that she would be an amazing writer, her ears ghosted in and out of the conversation not really paying attention until she heard something she didn’t like and decided to try and steer the conversation back to one more favourable.

“You guys know I’m right here?”

“Sorry, Mari but theorizing how is fun.”

Alya quickly returned to her train of thought ignoring her best friends hurt expression, Marinette looked towards her other friends for support only getting a shrug from Adrien in response.

“Not as fun as almost being akumatized twice,” she whispered under her breath not realizing that Adrien had heard nor did she see the softened look her was now giving her.

“So,” Alya continued, ”If you had to choose another Akuma’s powers, what would it be and why?”

Marinette didn’t want to sit there anymore, she quickly murmured an excuse before heading down her steps to the bathroom below, she was too wrapped up in her own thoughts to hear the footsteps that followed her down behind her.

“Marinette? Are you okay?”

Marinette turned around and gave him a small smile before turning back to the bathroom, closing the door behind her, She pushed her back against it and slowly slid down the door to the tiled floor.

“I… I don’t think Alya released how much her questions really hurt you,” the boy told her through the door, “Did you want me to tell her for you?”

“No!” Marinette blurted out, “No I need to tell her, It's my feeling, not yours but thank you… for offering… I appreciate it.”

“Did you want to talk about it?”

“Hmm?” she asked out of confusion.

“I heard you… upstairs… you said that you were-“

“They were momentary outbursts of anger, I was upset for about 5 minutes or so and suddenly there was a purple butterfly, the first time was when Chloe ruined my gift for Miss Bustier’s birthday.”

Marinette paused at the memories of the day came flooding back as well as the anger she had felt.

“I… I didn’t know.”

“I had put a lot of effort into it and she!” The anger flowed through her as she spoke but as soon as it came it was gone, “Sorry, I didn’t mean-“ she quickly sputtered out apology after apology.

“Marinette, I know you didn’t mean to yell at me.”

She let out a small sigh of relief as she regained her composure, “Thank you.”

“The second time, what caused that one?”

“Lila… I believe one word does it justice.”

“Yeah, it really does.”

Marinette pushed herself off of the floor and slowly opened the bathroom door, removing the wall between the two, Adrien smiled at the sight of her best friend.

“You okay?” he asked.

She nodded her head, “yeah, just need to get away from the conversation for a while.”

“I know how that feels but I highly doubt my father would appreciate me walking out of his office when I feel that way.”

“You poor thing,” she teased as she moved towards the kitchen, picking up the kettle, “Tea?”

Adrien nodded his head and she quickly pulled two cups down from the cupboard while filling the kettle up, she set the kettle down on the burn and turning the heat up to the highest setting. Marinette searched through her secret stash of tea bags looking for a specific flavour, after searching for a bit she found it, The kettle screeched as it reached its boiling point, she turned to take it off the stove only to find that Adrien had already done so. She moved aside for him to pour the water into the two awaiting cups, she noted that they made a good team.

Marinette shifted uncomfortably on her stool, trying to find something to say to him, she opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by him.

“Marinette,” he said softly, “you know that I’m here for you, I don’t want to see you or anyone akumatized, so If you-“

Marinette darted her hand across the counter top to grasp his, “don’t worry about me Adrien If I… If I ever feel like I’m going to be Akumatized, I’ll call you.”

“Thank-you,” he whispered.

“And if you feel-“

"Same thing I know.”

Marinette took a small sip of her tea, “Maybe we should head upstairs.”

“In a little bit.”


	14. Day Fourteen - Restore

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Continuation of Day Twelve

The phone sat discarded between the two, three days had passed and there still was no cracking the phone. No messages had been sent to it since it had fallen into her hands leaving the two heroes with nothing.

 

The phone screen was now smashed her having dropped it in the latest Akuma, but the screen was quickly repaired when she called the cure.

 

She watched proudly as the cure washed over the damaged and crumbling streets of her home, even to this day her abilities to restore the damage done to Paris due to Hawkmoth still managed to take her breath away, she never let it show though, she needed to act older than she was, her standing there like a child watching their first fireworks show was not something she didn’t need to be published on the ladyblog but she still silently marvelled as the cure wove its way around collapsed walls and cracked streets fixing everything in its wake.

 

She looked down at her unconscious partner still trying to hold back the tears but failing as  one dropped down onto his pale face, she placed her forehead against his and instantly started to feel her heartbreak, she had failed him, she pushed her fingers into his neck once again trying to find a pulse but she already knew the answer, there wasn’t one, she pulled him closer cradling his head in her arms rocking herself back and forth in an attempt to try and comfort herself.

 

“it's okay,” she whispered choking back the tears, “everything is okay, you're going to be fine,” she whispered to him although it was really for herself.

 

The distant beeping of her earrings forced her to move from the centre of the street, she picked her partner up in her arms and let her feet carry her along the rooftops, she had no destination in mind apart from away from the public eye.

 

* * *

 

“I failed him,” she stated defeatedly, in her heart she knew it she should have seen it coming, Hawkmoth was spooked they knew who he was and they were closing in.

 

“No Ladybug, you brought him here, he still has a chance.”

 

“He’s Dead Master Fu! You can’t-“ she choked on a sob, he was dead, her partner, Adrien, was dead and it was all her fault, her feet buckled underneath her sending her to her knees, for the first time since that morning she let the flood gates holding her tears back free and tears quickly roll down her face.

 

He was dead, his face was pale and there was no bringing him back, she pulled herself together and moved to his side slipping the cold heavy silver ring off of his finger, she needed to take him home.

 

“Marinette, trust me, he still has a chance,” she looked towards Master Fu, his kind smile reassuring her a little, “Put the ring back on his finger.”

 

She did as she was told slowly slipping the ring back on his left hand and waited for Master Fu to get back to what he was doing, she watched him out of the corner of her eye slowly mixing a potion in the small black cauldron it reminded her of what she pictured potion classes in the Harry Potter books having never been bothered to watch the movies.

 

Powder followed liquid into the cauldron, small plumes of smoke rose into the air, Marinette assumed that it was supposed to happen as Master Fu added more. Marinette didn’t even realize she was drifting off to sleep until she was.

 

* * *

 

“Marinette, you need to drink this.”

 

She rubbed her eyes looking up through her sleepy eyes at the Guardian, a small clay cup was in his hands.

 

“You need to drink.”

 

“Why?” she asked sleepily.

 

“Just drink,” he repeated.

 

Although unsure Marinette took the small cup from his hands quickly drinking it all resisting the urge to spit it out.

 

“What was it, Master Fu?”

 

“A Special drink, now if you could call the cure again?”

 

Marinette wasn’t sure what Master Fu wanted to her to do but agreed to do as she was told. She asked her Kwami to transform her and shakily called for the restoring cure. The small red Ladybugs that normally raced around fixing the damage slowly crowded around her partner, she glanced back at the Guardian, a wide smile sat across his face, she was confused, to say the least, she was too focused on Fu to see that her partner was now breathing.

 

She screamed when she felt his hand touch hers and turned to see him, his normal bright green eyes were now dull, she could see his mouth moving as if he was trying to say something.

 

“Shhh, Minou don’t speak.”

 

Marinette quickly wrapped her arms around him, he was cold under her fingers but she didn’t care, he was alive again. She didn’t have to face a world without him for a long time.

 

“How?”

 

“There are many things the Ladybug Miraculous can do and on the rare occasion can even restore the life of a loved one but there was no need of that one as he wasn’t dead merely under a spell of sleeping.”

 

“Thank-you…”

 

Marinette buried her head into Adrien’s neck, allowing herself cry her tears of joy, she clung to him not letting her grip on him loosen even with her uncomfortable position.

 

* * *

 

 

The sun was slowly set over the rooftops of Paris, It was the first time since the last Akuma the two heroes were able to meet

 

“How are you feeling?”

 

The question had plagued her mind for the last few days, his face had been a ghostly white in class, he had seemed sickened, the effect of an Akuma had never lasted so long before, she had to resist pulling him aside and wrapping her arms around him but she could not do that, no matter how much she wanted to tell him.

 

“I’m fine, My Lady, stop worrying please.”

 

She looked down towards her feet, “sorry, I… never mind.”

 

“Hey I’m Sorry, I… I didn’t know how much it had affected you.”

 

She lowered her voice to a whisper, “I spent the entire week worrying about you.”

 

Her partner's arms snaked their way around her until they had her in a tight embrace.

 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t-“

 

She reached her hand up to put a finger over his lips, “ I know you didn’t so I don’t hold in against you,” she let out a sigh, how long do you think it’ll take for us to figure out who Hawkmoth is?"

 

“I…” he paused to think, “ I really don’t know but I do know I can’t wait to restore Paris back to the peaceful city it once was.”

 

“Me too Minou, but I think we need to plan it out and-“

 

“Make sure we take no unnecessary risks, I know bugaboo, I know you don’t want to see me lying unconscious in the street again and I most definitely don’t want to see that happen to you.”

 

His words had softened at the thought, she shuffled over to him feeling that they were too far apart and rested her head against his shoulder.

 

“We’ll get there, My Lady.”

 

“Mhm."


	15. Chapter Fifteen - Suport

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Continuation of Day 12 and 14

Marinette glanced around her room searching for the source of the buzzing, her boyfriend Adrien was helping too, throwing scraps of unused fabric over their shoulders.

 

“I think it’s over here Mari,” he called from the other side of the room.

 

Marinette quickly navigated her way over to him, jumping over the back of her chaise lounge, he was right the buzzing was definitely a lot louder, she quickly rummaged through the draws containing her sewing supplies, There safely tucked away in a false bottom draw sat the phone. Marinette was surprised it still had power, it had been well over a year since she had tucked it away in there.

 

“Should we answer it?” Adrien asked.

 

Marinette shrugged her shoulders, “I don’t know, should we?”

 

She pulled the phone out of the dark and dusty draw out into the light of the room, The familiar caller ID was brightly displayed across the screen, Marinette moved her finger to her lips, silencing Adrien before swiping the answer button.

 

Silence filled the room as the two heroes waited for the person on the other end to speak, they could only just hear a distant conversation, a few words were audible through the speaker.

 

‘Sick… will get… soon… I promise… Emily… Adrien won’t…. Ladybug… Chat… won’t succeed… Much Longer…'

 

Adrien wretched the phone from her hands, pressing the end call button in the process.

 

Marinette felt her heartbreak for him.

 

“Adrien I…”

 

There were tears in his eyes, he was trying his best to hold them back, “you were right, all those years ago you were right,” his voice was wobbly from the emotions he was experiencing, he was angry and heartbroken, Marinette watched as he tossed and kicked at the fabric, she didn’t dare stop him but stayed silent letting him get his anger out.

 

The anger quickly turned to shock, he started pacing back and forth, she wrapped her arms around him and guided him up towards her loft bed, bundling him up in warp fluffy blankets in an attempt to try and comfort him.

 

They sat in silence for a while, Marinette slowly ran her fingers through his golden locks, humming a gentle tune, slowly soothing him to sleep.

 

“I’m here for you Adrien, remember that, I’ll always be here to support you, no matter what.”

 

“What… what are we going to do…” His voice was still thick with emotion.

 

“We’ll think about that later Adrien, Okay?”

 

He nodded his head, “I kinda, want to play video games…”

 

“Adrien… did you really want to play video games against me.”

 

“I’ve been practising.”

 

“We’ll see…”

 

—==+==—

 

Marinette played round after round against him, slowly seeing her boyfriends' spirits rise, she went easy on him, lowering her skill level just enough to for him to beat her almost every round, she watched him out of the corner of her eye glance down at his phone, his sour mood returned almost instantly.

 

“Adrien?”

 

“I’m fine Mari, they’ve just requested me home so… I guess I’ve got to get going.”

 

“Adrien wait!” By the time Marinette had stood up Adrien had gathered up his stuff and had started towards the trapdoor, “you don’t have to go…”

 

He turned to face her, “My father… He’ll-“

 

“You were the one that told me it was better to ask forgiveness than permission, Master Fu wasn’t happy with me but he forgave me when I reviled myself too you.”

 

“Marinette-“

 

“Stay… Please,” she begged.

 

He looked back at the trapdoor than back at her, he let out a sigh before setting his stuff back down on her chase.

 

“Only for tonight.”

 

“Of course,” she responded.

—==+==—

 

_One night quickly turned into many..._

 


	16. Day Sixteen - Triumph

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Continuation of Day 12 - Day 14 - Day 15

Marinette ran her fingers slowly over the delicate wings of the Butterfly Miraculous it felt good to finally hold it within her grasp, she felt triumphant, she could now tell the people of Paris that they had nothing left to fear from. She looked over towards her partner, the smile across his face was undeniable but so was the start of a black eye, she wondered how she looked, Maybe she too had a black eye, she remembered Gabriel had hit her several times in the fight but the Adrenaline rush she was currently feeling had numbed her to the pain.

 

“We did it, My Lady, I can’t believe we did it.”

 

She smiled brightly at him, “Neither can I Minou but we did it.”

 

“We have to recover the Peacock Miraculous too, don’t we?”

 

Marinetti’s smile slowly dropped from her face as she slowly nodded her head.

 

It was a shame that they had let Natalie get away having not perceived her as a threat. Natalie had helped Gabriel escape by hitting Chat over the head with a glass vase, Marinette had run to his aid creating an opening for Gabriel to escape but Marinette had managed to snag the Butterfly Miraculous off of his shirt.

 

“Let's go home My Lady, I really don’t want to be here anymore.”

 

Her heart warmed at his words, she was glad he saw her family bakery as his home. She looked around at the torn apart office before nodding her head, “Let's go home."


	17. Day Seventeen - Failure

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Continuation of Day 12 - Day 14 - Day 15 - Day 16

Marinette mentally kicked herself, why had they let Natalie get away, she didn’t want to be out in the pouring rain fighting a giant buffalo but her she was with extremely sore muscles and soaked, her partner looked a little bit like a drowned cat, he too didn’t appreciate the rain, she could hear him growling from 6ft away.

 

Marinette hated failure and watching the 15ft tall buffalo running around on the street below, she felt like she had let everybody down, she knew Alya had been writing a public address for the heroes letting Paris know that the Villains had been defeated and the nightmare was over but seeing the streets of her home destroyed once again was like a kick in the gut.

 

She sighed before leaping back down into the fray, Nooroo had informed them of Desuu’s condition, Natalie could hold the transformation up forever.

 

Marionette stood patiently waiting for the buffalo to turn around before wrapping her yo-yo around the spirit animals neck and finally succeeding at getting it lodged around it, she pulled it towards herself sending it flying over her head and into the large office building behind her, she winched at the sound of glass shattering. Nothing seemed to be going to plan for her today.

 

—==+==—

 

Marinette absentmindedly moved her pencil across the page of her sketchbook.

 

“Are you okay Marinette?”

 

‘I’m fine Alya,” she looked up and gave her friend a smile trying to reassure her friend that she really was fine.

 

“You know I don’t believe you, so whatever is bothering you just know that everything will work out in the end, okay?”

 

“I don’t know you mean but… Thank you.”

 

Marinette felt herself perk up, maybe Alya was right and everything would work out in the end, but for now, all she could do was wait and see.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm working under the Assumption that the Peacock Miraculous Uses Spirit Animals to fight...


	18. Chapter Eighteen - Fears

Marinette once knew her fears, she could name them off by heart.

 

She feared losing her parents for the love she felt for them

 

She feared failure, failing as a designer, failing as a friend and failing in life. She wanted to succeed, she wanted to live comfortably, she wanted friends around her, she wanted what her parents wanted for her, she wanted a simple dream.

 

She also feared embracing herself, maybe not as much as the others but the social rejection was something she wanted to limit.

 

But when she became Ladybug her fears grew, she knew with the emergence of Hawkmoth the rest of Paris’s fears had grown too and maybe the rest of the worlds had too. Marinette now feared many things, almost too many to count.

 

She feared not living up to someone's expectations for fear of letting them down and them becoming prey to the purple butterfly.

 

She feared her own emotions, her abilities to purify and fix the damage caused by the alum’s and too her knowledge the only one being able to do so made her terrified of what would happen if she was Akumatized.

 

She also feared losing her Partner, whether she lost him to Hawkmoth or one of his victim’s, Adrien was her support just as much as she was his.

 

Marinette also feared losing the fight against Hawkmoth, the fight had been going south lately and she had almost lost her own miraculous to the last 3 Akuma’s, she couldn’t let him win, Paris needed justice.

 

 

 

Marinette never let her fear show, it was only on rare occasions that she did, most of the time she was calm, kind confident Ladybug, the only person able to see past that was Adrien, she only ever let the thick was she had built up down around him, she was glad he was her partner because in the large scary world full of unknowns he was the person that forced her to overcome her fears, so she pushed all her fears aside and kept on fighting, she kept on fighting so no one else would have to fear what she feared and she was proud, proud to be Ladybug even with all of her fears.


	19. Day Nineteen - New Look

Marinette looked at the pigtails in her hair, she had done the style in an attempt to get Manon to put her own hair up but that had been years ago and her red spotted suit needed a new look, she had grown bored with the pajama style spotted onesie and so she had spent the past month testing new suit designs, Tikki’s magic had fast-tracked the process. Marinette wasn’t used to seeing her rejected designs brought to life but Tikki had insisted she do so in case she noticed something she liked, Marinette liken the entire process to wedding dress shopping; going through multiple re-designs of the same thing just to find the right one but just like a bride Marinette had finally found the right design.

 

It was sleeker than her last one, she had taken inspiration from her partners suit who he briefly took the mantle, she enjoyed how simplistically complex it was, she constantly tossed the design aside while playing around with others but she had always circled back to it so she adopted it only changing a few details to her liking, unlike the last suit she had actual boots she wanted to distance herself far from the onesie design adding different layers so it didn’t look flat.

 

She muttered her retransformation phrase and got to work changing a few details and adding a few more, she retransformed and inspected it once again, it was perfect she headed towards her trapdoor to meet her partner, she snagged her sketchbook on the way out, there were a few sketches she wanted to show him.

 

—==+==—

 

Marinette walked up behind him, the small rooftop Garden smelt wonderful in the sunny spring afternoon, she could feel the cool breeze as it snuck through the thick green hedges, her single braid brushed across her back in the breeze, She placed her hand on her partner's shoulder, he jumped slightly at her touch.

 

“My Lady?” he asked as he caught sight of her and immediately stiffened under her touch.

 

“It’s me Minou, you don’t have to worry.”

 

She slowly felt him relax but she could tell he still had his guard up, “new suit?”

 

“Yeah, my last one seemed a little… Childish.”

 

He shrugged, “I didn’t mind it.”

 

Marionette giggled, “you like anything I wear.”

 

“True,” he stated quickly, “Why’d you bring a sketchbook?” he seemed to only just notice the small bound book in her grasp, “you designed me one?” He asked excitedly.

 

“I might have… Okay I did, I got a little carried away and couldn’t stop myself.”

 

Her partner seemed to be bouncing on the spot waiting for her to open the black book. She was glad she had used the spare empty sketchbook for her suit designs because the book was gone from her hands as soon as she opened it.

 

“Wow… You’re… You’re good, these are… Amazing.”

 

Marinette felt her cheeks grow warm and red, “thank you Chat, that means a lot to me.”

 

He smiled at her and continued to slowly flick through the watercolor designs making small comments to her, she took everything he said to her to heart to improve her skills in the future, she was surprised at how much he knew about fashion but then again she didn’t really know that much about the guys under the mask.

 

“Kitty I would love to stay here and chat but we need to start our patrol.”

 

“And you need to show off your new look.”

 

She smiled, “I pretty sure some pictures have already made their way onto The Ladyblog.”

 

“Well, I don’t see why some more can’t,” he joked back.

 

“You’re welcome to take pictures,” she stated back, the giggled at the right red shade of his red face had turned, “Kitty, you don’t have to be embraced about it, if you want photo’s just ask.”

 

“Please?”

 

“After patrol, okay, that way you can give me more constructive criticism.”

 

“Let's go then.”

 

Her partner quickly extended his baton and leaped over to the next building over and started alone their patrol route, she shook her head before leaping after him.


	20. Day Twenty - Dress Up

Marinette pulled at the ill-fitting dress, she liked it but it was too loose in places and too tight in others causing it to pinch her skin as she moved, she hated that she didn't have enough time to alter it, a surprise new year masquerade party wasn’t her idea of a night out on such short notice, she yelped as the pale pink dress once again pinched at her skin.

 

“Alya! I hate this dress!” she yelled through the bathroom door.

 

“But you look cute in it and I’m sure Adrien will think so too,” her best friend singsonged back.

 

Marinette blushed at the thought, Alya was right the dress looked cute on her but was she willing to deal with the constant pinching, she looked at her self in the mirror, she was constantly moving in front of it and no matter how cute she looked her almost constant movement would counter it. She reluctantly took the dress off hearing several seams rip in the process, she winced as she inspected the damage, it was an easy fix but it would take time, time she currently didn’t have.

 

“Alya?”

 

“Yeah?” her friend replied.

 

“The dress, I might have ripped it.”

 

“You didn’t…” she said in disbelief.

 

“I’m sorry I was trying to get it to sit right.”

 

“I don’t have another one.”

 

“If you let me go home I’ll-“

 

“Nope stay here I think I might have another one.”

 

Marinette did as she was told and stood patiently in the bathroom watching her Kwami peacefully munching on her cookie.

 

There was movement on the other side of the door, “Girl, I don’t have anymore.”

 

“It's okay, I have one that's perfect at home if you would-“

 

“Mari, you are going with me so don’t try and get out of this.”

 

Marinette groaned, of course, Alya would pick up on her escape attempt.

 

“Please Alya, you can come with me, you just have to stay downstairs while I find it.”

 

There was silence on the other side of the door as Alya pondered what her friend had said.

 

Marinette finally got her reply, “fine but you are coming to the party with me.”

 

Marinette let out a silent cheer as she quickly got dressed.

 

 

Marinette was practically dragged back to her family run bakery and up into her room, she pushed Alya back to the kitchen downstairs before reluctantly retreating back up the stairs. She let out a sigh once the trapdoor was closed behind her, she had no suitable dresses, none of them were meant for winter, Marinette guessed that she could get away with her ball gown but her other two dresses were most defiantly not an option, she now regretted telling Alya that she had a dress to wear.

 

“Marinette!” Alya yelled from bellow, “Hurry up!”

 

Marinette turned to her Kwami, “Tikki, what do I do?”

 

“It’s a masquerade party right?”

 

Marinette quickly nodded her head.

 

“Transform, I have the perfect dress in mind for you, although it's in red not your usual pink.”

 

“Tikki, you are my hero.”

 

The small Kwami let out a giggle before Marinette called for her transformation.

 

Marinette let out a gasp when she caught sight of the cherry red winter dress in the mirror. The skirt cut off just below her knee, the sleeves were long with black cuffs, the chest reminded her of her favorite 1940’s dresses, a small black belt rested around her waist and sat firmly across her face was the familiar red domino mask bar the red spots, her hair was done up in a neat, tight bun with a red ribbon.

 

“Thank you Tikki,” she whispered as she continued to twirl in front of the mirror gobsmacked before heading downstairs to a shocked Alya.

 

“Where have you been hiding this one?” The surprise was evident in her voice.

 

“Oh you know for a rainy day,” the heels of the sheepskin snow boots clicked as she made her way towards her friend, “We better get going or we’ll be later.”

 

“Yeah… Maybe you should dress up more, it would certainly catch the attention of a particular blond model.”

 

“Maybe, but that's a discussion for later.”

 

Alya nodded her head.

 

The two girls quickly made their way towards the party to ring in the new year.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dress reference - https://goo.gl/oSPKES


	21. Chapter Twenty-One - Tactician

Marinette looked at the paper before her, the obstacle course was large, roughly a kilometre of trees, hills and rough terrain between them, she looked at her team, the familiar faces of her friends ( and some enemies), she was used to leading a ragtag group of people with different abilities, but capture the flag paintball was another story so she had decided to leave the team planning to the others. The end of year school trip was always something of a competition, the year before was water sport, raft building, water polo, white water rafting. Marinette had enjoyed it, building and letting her tactical mind run free without the feeling of life and death hanging over her head, it was freeing in a way, she had felt refreshed when she returned back to Paris, ready to fight anything Hawkmoth had dreamed up for her. She turned her focus back to planning the attack, the team had already decided on dividing into fourths to increase the chances of winning, she only wished Adrien was on her team but Girls vs Boys was the most voted in team choices.

 

“Okay, so Rose and Kagami are you okay with defending?”

 

It was Alya that had taken charge, she seemed to have an idea in mind, she had moved the two player chips that represented the girls to the back. Marinette tried to figure out what Alya’s overall plan was, having the two girls in the defending position was a good idea, Kagami was easily the most skilled person within the group placing her in the back defending the most important thing was ideal, Rose had proven herself years back as a silent killer in a game of hiding and seek. Marinette looked up at the two girls in time to see them both nod.

 

“Rose…”

 

“Yes, Alya?”

 

“You know the deal.”

 

“Got it.”

 

The rest of the team was split across the Five different paths into their starting area, Marinette wasn’t comfortable with the plan, she could see faults and easy ways to slip past their defences and Alya choosing to send Alix across the battlefield alone to retrieve a flag was also something she didn’t like. She grumbled as she made her way carefully to her defensive position keeping herself alert to everything in her surroundings. She decided to hang back a little further away from where she was supposed to stand hoping to lead some of her possible attackers into a false sense of security while she took refuge behind a nearby hidden shelter, she poked the mussel of her rifle through the small little opening in the rocks and waited for movement, she could hear her heart racing within her chest as time ticked past.

 

Marinette waited and waited as time slowly ticked by, she could hear some distant shooting but it wasn’t getting any closer, she was tempted to send her Kwami to go and see what was going on but that would be considered cheating so she had to sit tight and wait.

 

 

 

She yawned as she watched the small pathway through her scope on the rifle, she was bored,  she was about to look away when she saw some small movement a little to her right, there in her scope was her friend Alix, she was covered in the paint from the enemy team but they hadn’t landed a killing blow on her, Marinette quickly pulled her rifle from its position and ran towards her friend keeping the heavy rifle held high to fire at any attackers while she lifted her friends arm around her neck and slowly maneuvered her back towards the small shelter.

 

“You okay?” she asked the pink hair girl.

 

“Yeah, Just hurts a lot, I’m going to be bruised for weeks.”

 

She chuckled, “Any luck on the flag?”

 

Alix shook her head as she shifted into a more comfortable position, “They are heavily defending it, if we are going to capture the flag we will need to draw them out, but that might be difficult with Max planing everything, just be glad they decided to allow Lila on the team, she is by far their weakest link.”

 

“Maybe I should try to sneak past them,” a plan was already forming inside her head but she would need help, Rose was by far the best choice and Marinette didn’t like changing the plan behind Alya’s back but she really didn’t have a choice, “Stay here and defend I need to go get Rose for my plan to work.”

 

“You know Alya isn’t going to like that,” Alix warned.

 

“I know she won’t but I know she’ll forgive me… eventually…”

 

“Your funeral,” she heard Alix say before she left heading back towards the flag.

 

 

Marinette held her hands above her head as she slowly walked towards the enemy flag hoping her peaceful looking approach would save her from a rain of red paint.

 

“Halt!” the voice that sounded suspiciously like Ivan’s commanded.

 

Marinette froze and did as he commanded.

 

“Drop the gun,” Ivan commanded again, “Push it away from yourself and towards me. Slowly,” he quickly added.

 

Marinette did as she was told and slowly bent down unhooking the gun from around her neck before she stood up straight and kicked the gun towards the direction of his voice, she spotted out of the corner of her eye small little frame of Rose slowly snuck over the rocks, Ivan carefully walked towards Marinette’s gun, she watched as Rose softly landed behind him and waited for Marinette’s signal.

 

“So what brings you here Marinette.”

 

“I’m sorry Ivan.”

 

Marinette looked at Rose and nodded her head, in seconds Ivan was covered in the bright pink paint from Rose’s gun. Ivan grumbled something before heading off into the shade.

 

“Same Plan with the others?” Rose asked.

 

“No, I need you to create a distraction while I grab the flag or did you want to grab the flag.”

 

“I’ll cause a distraction,” Rose stated enthusiastically.

 

Marinette shrugged her shoulders and picked up her gun from the dirt, “I’ll be ready when you are.”

 

Rose quickly vanished over the small rock wall she had jumped over and out of sight.

 

Marinette slumped her shoulders before continuing towards the flag.

 

 

 

Marinette ducked behind a large boulder, the team had set up their flag in the eastern plateau, they would be able to see her coming, she looked through her scope, everyone was at the camp apart from Ivan, she couldn’t see Kim so she guessed he was currently scoping out the area. She waited, waited for an opening to sneak closer towards the camp.

 

“Hey! you guys know that Kim’s Dead right?”

 

Marinette smiled as she heard Rose yell a few more words and the members guarding the flag take off after her, leaving only Max behind. When he had his back turned Marinette slowly maneuvered herself towards the flag trying her best to minimize the amount of noise she was making she got three steps away from him when he turned, Marinette panicked and squeezed the small trigger on her gun, purple paint splattered over his chest, she murmured a quick apology before snatching the flag and booking it towards her own flag at high speeds. She could feel her adrenaline pumping as she ran the distant yells of the enemy combinations behind her, they had already realized that the flag was gone.

 

“Alix!” she yelled as she ran past her friend, “Cover me!”

 

She didn’t stop and continued running, orange paint splattered on a nearby rock only just missing her head, she glanced behind her to see Adrien, the shot he had fired was a warning shot Marinette knew she couldn’t stop and hand the flag back over but instead she could use it as bait, she swapped it to her left hand, the hand closer to him and held it out for him to take it, he moved closer and Marinette steadied her gun that was safely hidden by the cloth flag and when she thought he was in range squeezed the trigger repeatedly, he looked at her in surprise, she shrugged her shoulders and ran off towards her base leaving a still shocked Adrien in her dust.

 

 

 

Marinette felt proud has her friends congratulated her on winning the fight for them, she had been asked to repeatedly repeat the story much to the boy’s humiliation. Marinette tried her best not to repeat it to often after she realized that it sounded like she was showing off. Alya was a little upset with her at first but that soon turned into pride, she had been coined as _‘The Little Tactician’_ by Alya and the nickname stuck for several weeks afterwards.


	22. Day Twenty-Two - Rare Pair

Marinette buried her head in her into her pillow, she still couldn’t believe she had said yes.

 

“So please tell me again what did you agree to?”

 

She glanced down at her friend on the pink chase lounge and groaned, “I agreed to go on a date with Kim in front of Adrien.”

 

“And?”

 

She groaned again upset that Alya wasn't understanding her predicament, “And I don’t know what to do.”

 

“You go on a date with the guy, If Adrien wanted you he would have asked you out months back,” The reporter replied.

 

“Still…”

 

She was unsure, she knew that she needed to move on from her schoolgirl crush, no matter how many dates she went on with a guy something drew her back to him but some small part of her was hopeful, maybe Kim would be the one that finally broke the cycle.

 

“Come on I’ll help, so where is that red dress you made a week ago.”

 

“in the fabric bin,” she murmured into her pillows.

 

“And it will soon be on you come on, when is the date?”

 

“Tonight.”

 

“Well, then we have no time to lose.”

 

Marinette slowly dragged herself out of the warm comfy bed to the floor below.

 

* * *

 

Marinette shivered as the cold wind of the incoming storm brushed against her skin.

 

“Where is he?” She whispered to herself annoyed at the possibility of being stood up.

 

She stood outside of the small movie theatre watching as the first few drops of the rainstorm began to fall, she moved her hand out from the safety of the shelter out into the rain, a few drops hit against her hand, she could help but smile a little.

 

“Marinette?”

 

“Huh?” she turned to see Kim sending behind her, He was dressed a little more casually than her but he had put some effort in dressing up.

 

“Sorry, My mind was elsewhere.”

 

“It's okay,” he returned a smile was plastered brightly across his face, “are you ready?”

 

“Yeah, what movie are we watching?”

 

“There’s this new zombie movie I wanted to see, the guys have been raving on about it for weeks,” he explained enthusiastically.

 

“I look forward to watching with you then.”

 

“Cool, there's this thing though,” he started clearly nervous, “I kinda forgot my wallet.”

 

“It's okay,” she responded trying to keep her normal happy voice, “I brought mine.”

 

“Awesome let's go!”

 

Marinette didn’t have time to respond because her date had already made his way in through the to the movie theatre.

 

“There’s no turning back now," she muttered to herself before she followed him inside, there was a sinking feeling in her stomach but she ignored it.

 

* * *

 

Marinetti’s mind was focused on her partner safely tucked away back in her bed at home, she wasn't exactly paying attention to the world around her.

 

“Hey Marinette!” she knew who it was by the voice.

 

“Hey, Kim, what's up?”

 

“Are you okay? You said you weren’t feeling well last night,” there was a hint of concern in his voice.

 

“Yeah, I’m fine now, sorry for leaving so early last night.”

 

“Well maybe you can't make it up to me, there’s a new dinner that opened up down the street, wanna get lunch together.”

 

She paused to consider his offer before nodding her head.

 

“I would love to.”

 

* * *


	23. Day Twenty-Three - Family

To Marinette family was everything, they meant the world to her, they were the people that would support you through everything especially her mother. Her mother the small kind woman that she was never really questioned where she really was during Akuma attacks even if it wasn’t the most believable at times, she once dreamed of the day she could tell her parents who she was, she hated lying and lying to her mother and father where she was during the Akuma attacks. But years had passed and Hawkmoth had long since been stopped and she still didn’t have the guts to tell her, she guessed that she would tell her sometime.

 

When Marinette found out she was going to be having her own family she was a little terrified, the thought of children hadn’t crossed her mind in years and neither was starting her own family, she knew she wanted them but she was terrified, she was scared that she wasn’t ready for them, that in some way shape or form she would fail them, it took some words from her own mother to convince her otherwise, her mother was always there to support her.

 

Marinette looked down at the newborn in her arms, she was tired from 3 hours of labour but the small fragile precious baby made it all worth it, her heart felt heavy from the love she felt, she couldn’t stop herself from smiling and neither could her own mother, she had glanced up at her several times in the past few minutes catching a few proud looks from her.

 

Family was everything and Marinette couldn’t wait until she could bring her own little bundle of joy home.


	24. Day Twenty-Four - Girl Squad

Friday night game was her favourite night of the week, the group of girls all came together to play their favourite games.

 

“All right so what the plan?” Rose’s voice crackled through Marinette’s headphones.

 

“We are going to help Marinette finally tell Adrien how she feels.”

 

“Alya!” She yelped.

 

“Come on Marinette, how long has it been now? 2-3 years?” Alix chimed in.

 

Her cheeks grew red and hot, they all seemed to forget for the past 2-3 years she had been actively trying to tell him how she felt but something had always come up or it wasn’t the right time. It was getting to the stage where she was ready to give up on ever telling him.

 

She sighed, “There’s no getting out of this is there?”

 

There was a collective no from the group.

 

“Fine…” she reluctantly replied.

 

“Now, we have planned to get you and Adrien alone as often as possible during the school excursion on Thursday, All you have to do is tell him…”

 

* * *

 

Marinette glanced around at the almost full bus looking for a free spot, her eyes finally landed on the one next to Adrien, her friend's plan seemed to already be in effect, she slowly dragged her feet over towards him. He smiled at her and she smiled back murmuring a hello before sitting down, she could feel the awkwardness in the air.

 

She looked around the bus for her friends hoping to gain some moral support but all she got was Alya mouthing the words ‘tell him’ she knew today was going to be a long day.

 

——====+====——

 

Marinette slowly waltzed her way through the art gallery carefully inspecting each and every piece, she was glad she had taken her small sketchbook with her, small designs started to fill the pages, she could tell her friends were starting to grow frustrated as she threw their carefully laid plans out the window but she really couldn’t care, there was always going to be another day to tell him and maybe she would tell him later in the day.

 

She stared up at the piece in front of her, no matter how many times she walked through the halls of The Louvre she always found a piece she had yet to see, she studied the piece carefully takin note of the features and dresses of the women within it.

 

“I haven’t seen this one before…”

 

“Must be a new one for the exhibit, it looks like the woman is-“

 

Marinette cut herself off as she realized whose voice it was… Adrien...

 

“You were saying Marinette?”

 

“I… Uh…” she mentally kicked herself for stuttering, why couldn’t she say a single sentence without stuttering around him, she thought she was over this, she tried to focus on something else only to see her friends giving her the thumbs up, she sighed internally before speaking, "the…The… The woman, she looks a little bit like Cleopatra.”

 

He ignored her stutter and moved closer towards the painting, “She does a little bit.”

 

“What’s your favourite painting?” she asked looking down at the floor trying to hide her face.

 

“I don’t have one, each piece has a story to the painter, it would be cruel to compare them. Do you have a favourite?” he asked shyly.

 

She shook her head, “No, I think of it like trying to choose a favourite design, it’s too hard.” she looked towards him to greet his smile.

 

——====+====——

 

“So please Marinette tell us you told him?”

 

Alya was first to lead the questioning, Marinette had hardly just gotten off the bus before she was ambushed.

 

“I…i…” she stuttered, “I’m sorry… I tried…”

 

The girls let out a groan at her words.

 

“Why?! We had everything set up for you, we even trapped you two in the flower garden,” Alix retorted in anger.

 

She could see the downhearted looks in her friends' eyes, “I’m sorry, I tried,” she said again, “I really did, but I couldn’t bring myself to do so, It didn’t feel right.”

 

Rose frowned, “If it didn’t feel right…”

 

“It didn’t,” she assured.

 

“We’ll fight another opportunity, someday you will tell him.”

 

She looked at her friends a few smiles had returned to their faces, “Thank you, for dealing with me.”

 

“We wouldn’t change you for the world…” Juleka stated.

 

"Well maybe just your stutter,” Alix quickly added.


	25. Day Twenty-Five - Fashon Design

_Summer_

 

Marinate ran her fabric scissors up the long bolt of fabric before carefully folding the fabric. She loved working in the fabric store at times but slow days like today made her enjoy the job even more and the entitled middle-aged woman before her wasn’t helping her mood, she bit her tongue in frustration trying to hold back the spiteful words that threatened to burst through her tightly closed mouth.

 

“Anything else miss?” she asked in her best calm and confident customer service voice.

 

The woman paused before heading back to the many rolls of fabric that lined the shelves, Marinette dropped her facade and groaned internally before returning a smile to her face and patiently waited for the woman to return with the next 5 bolts of fabric.

 

 

 

She waved goodbye to the woman before once again dropping her facade and gathered up the bolts of fabric to return them to their places on the shelves she paused as she passed a roll of royal blue fabric, it stood out amongst the rest of the blue fabrics, she gently placed the two heavy bolts in her hands gently down on the table nearby and walked towards the blue fabric, Idea’s swam inside her head of a blue blouse, a blue ball gown and a winter coat. The cotton fabric was soft to the touch and lightweight, she turned back to the counter and pulled her hidden sketchbook from her bag and raced bag to the fabric, she cut a small bit from it before opening the book, her hand moved across the page quickly as she got her ideas out. She moved the book into better light to inspect her designs, she looked proudly upon the sketches happy with the outcome.

 

 

Marinette sat in front of her sewing machine the sketchbook sat beside her she slowly pushed the dark blue thread through the machine, the pinned design sat on her mannequin to her left, she kept glancing over to it, the blue blouse was like a shining light in the white-walled room, she pulled the remaining thread through before stepping over to the mannequin and carefully pulling it off it.

 

The sewing machine hummed as she pushed the fabric through, she stopped every thirty seconds to check her stitches making sure they were straight, she planned on making it her submission piece for her exam.

 

Work was slow as she continued checking ever stitch, she had to go back serval times as she spotted a stitch out of line, it was a painful process but one that she was glad she had done when she had seen the finished product. It was beautiful in her hands, there was a temptation to put the shirt on but she quickly stuffed it into her dust cover before hanging it up.

 

She looked at the rest of the blue fabric she had tossed aside that was now crumpled on the floor, she picked it up, and looked at it before making her mind up, she estimated that she would have enough to make her winter coat.

 

* * *

 

_Winter_

 

“New jacket?” Alya asked as Marinette sat down at the small cafe table.

 

“Yes, I made it last summer just haven’t had the right weather for it.”

 

“You need to make me one.”

 

“Sorry the fabric store doesn’t stock it anymore, I’ve been searching other fabric stores for it.”

 

“See that's my fashion designer, hunting for the right fabric just to make another jacket.”

 

She giggled, “Thanks Alya, you order yet?”

 

She shook her head, “Not yet so…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come Follow Me On [Tumblr](https://leswansong.tumblr.com/)ヾ(〃^∇^)ﾉ


	26. Day Twenty-Six - Jagged Stone

 

_“In other news famed rock star Jagged Stone has announced his retirement, the star reportedly has stated that he wishes to spend that time with friends and family after an alleged health scare last month-"_

 

Marinette stared blankly at the screen, she never thought that the rock star would retire and she highly doubted that he actually would. She knew Jagged way too well, the last time it was reported he was retiring was weeks before his and Penny’s wedding but less than 2 weeks after they had returned from their honeymoon Marinette had found herself being commissioned for another Album cover, it was really an endless cycle.

 

She sighed and pulled out her drawing pad starting a few preliminary sketches in preparation for the call.

 

_“Tickets for his last world tour are on sale now for the next three weeks. Now onto other news-"_

 

Marinette tuned her TV to another channel enjoying her momentary peace until her husband got home.

 

—==+==—

 

“Are the rumours true?”

 

“Adrien I really don’t know, although I have been looking at tickets…”

 

“My lovely wife what are we going to do with the kittens, I think they might be a little too young for a rock concert.”

 

“My Parents would be happy to look after them for a night.”

 

“You’ve already asked haven’t you?”

 

“Yep, they've agreed to take them for any of the three days that you can get tickets for.”

 

“you’re amazing you know that.”

 

“I know so what day did you want to get tickets for.”

 

She moved the laptop over towards him for him to inspect.

 

“Maybe we should go on opening night.”

 

“Friday?”

 

He nodded his head.

 

“That might be difficult with the kittens, we have to be there at 5 and it's a 2-hour drive-“

 

“School, right…  maybe Saturday then.”

 

“Okay now general or-“

 

“Mari we are getting VIP.”

 

“Adrien…”

 

“Nope, we are getting VIP."

 

He passed the laptop back to her to see that he had already bought the tickets.

 

—==+==—

 

 

Marinette bounced around for weeks waiting for the concert to roll around and when it finally did she couldn’t sit still.

 

“Mari stop moving, you’re making me nervous.”

 

“Sorry, Adrien but I’m so excited.”

 

“I know you are but there is still a two-hour wait between us and the concert and on top of that the waiting lines.”

 

“Don’t remind me.”

 

Marinette felt the engine roar to life beneath her feet.

 

“Now let's get going before your parents decide to give us our children back.”

 

Marinette giggled, “You know they won’t.”

 

“Well, let's not push our luck.”

 

Adrien pulled away from the curb into the busy Parisian streets.

 

Marinette could hardly contain her excitement.

 

—==+==—

 

The stadium hadn’t changed much since her days as a hero, the building had certainly aged but Marinette guessed it was now part of its charm, Marinette quickened her pace and wrapped her arm around Adrien’s in an attempt to not get lost.

 

“You Okay?” he asked.

 

“Yeah just not used to the crowds.”

 

“Same here, maybe we should have brought the gorilla with us.”

 

Marinette chuckled, “Adrien!” she lightly punched his arm as he escorted her towards the mosh pit, “there was no way I would have let you do that.”

 

“Hmmm, maybe I should call him.”

 

She saw him reach for his phone that was safely tucked away in his right jacket pocket.

 

“Adrien…” she warned squeezing his left arm.

 

“I won’t, I won’t.”

 

—==+==—

 

The music was loud in her ears as the aging Jagged Stone stepped out on stage, she could feel her head beating to each and every beat of the kick drum, Adrien squeezed her hand before letting go to rock along to the music with her, her feet began to move as she danced, the music brought back memories from her teenage years.

 

Before too long, the concert was over, 3 hours had passed without Marinette even realizing, she was disappointed but happy at the same time, she had enjoyed herself and Adrien looked like he had too.

 

The two made their way towards the entrance to the backstage, their passes hung around their neck, she could hear her name being called from behind her, she spun to see her old high school friend Alix rushing over towards her.

 

“Alix?”

 

She let go of her partner's hand and started walking towards the now orange haired girl, she never thought she would see the girl here in a crowd of 30 thousand.

 

“Alix?” she called again, the girl ran slightly faster as she pushed past people, Marinette too quickened her pace.

 

“Marinette? I never thought I would see you here, well actually I did just not tonight.”

 

She chuckled, “It’s nice to see you, Alix.”

 

“So how are you and…"

 

—==+==—

 

Marinette waved goodbye to her old school friend an made her way back to her husband, feeling apologetic already.

 

“Alix?” Adrien asked.

 

Marinette nodded her head, “Yeah, she’s back in Paris for a few weeks for her brother's wedding, she took the opportunity to come out tonight.”

 

“I hope you exchanged numbers.”

 

“I most certainly did, now we better get going before we miss out on what you paid for.”

 

He held his hand out for her to take before leading her back to the backstage entry.

 —==+==—

 Marinette smiled as she shook her Idol’s hand, he seemed very happy to see her and surprised too, he kept insisting that she hadn’t had to pay for her tickets he would have gladly let her in for free in payment for her loyal hard work throughout the years but shook it off. She smiled and made quick friends with the other VIP’s as they all listened to some of Jagged’s acoustic songs for an extra hour and a half before it was time to leave.

 

—==+==—

 

Marinette slowly dragged her feet towards the car the keys were tightly grasped within her hands.

 

“Hey… did you want to… I don’t know… run along the rooftops…” Adrien slowly murmured out.

 

She shrugged her shoulders, “maybe, we’ll have to come and get the car tomorrow morning,” she turned to face him.

 

Adrien had already pulled his necklace off from around his neck, the ring was safely on his left finger and the small black Kwami was floating beside him.

 

She smiled, “Of course, you already had your ring on.”

 

He smiled at her as she unpinned her own Miraculous from her shirt and slipped them onto her ears. Her own Kwami appeared before her, she whispered a few words before calling her transformation, Adrien quickly followed suit.

 

The rooftops of Paris hadn’t changed much in the 5 years since she had roamed them, she still knew where every tile and chimney was as she navigated towards her childhood home.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come Follow Me On [Tumblr](https://leswansong.tumblr.com/)ヾ(〃^∇^)ﾉ


	27. Day Twenty-Seven - Dear Diary

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All Spelling mistakes are intentional in this chapter, sorry if it bugs you!

_Dear Diary, Wednesday_

Today was just like yesterday, I woke up late, had to get a late slip, got lectured by Ms. Mendeleiev again! Almost fell asleep at my desk twice, Adrien as always looked perfect but I still didn’t have the courage to tell him how I felt, Hawkmoth released another Akuma, fought and defeated it, once again got told off for being late and then got detention, today was rough, I’m not looking forward to tomorrow.   
The Akuma… I guess I’m not used to fighting Akuma’s that might actually kill me, I… I was terrified and I’m scared, I’m scared Hawkmoth will go down that route more often. Only time will tell I guess ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯   
  
_Dear Diary, Saturday_

I can’t believe the amount of rain Paris is getting right now, I can feel my inspiration and creative juices flowing I’ve been designing all day, there’s not much I can do anyway with all the rain, the bakery was almost empty, I guess not many people want to be out in this downpour. I had to go check on my plants during the storm cause I thought I heard one of them smash, turns out a stray cat had knocked a few over, I currently have it locked in the bathroom downstairs until I can take it to the vet, it seems to have just its self on some of the broken pottery.   
I need to go out tomorrow to get some fabric for a dress for Alya’s birthday. I came out with a design that would really suit her, I just need to somehow get her measurements without her realizing. Maybe I should ask… No, I can’t ask. I don’t know how I’ll get them.   
  
_Dear Diary, Monday_

School… I was early today for about 5 minutes untill i realised i was in the wrong class.   
We had our regular daily Akuma, today was a flower shop owner, turns out all of her plants were drowned during the storm, so after 2 days worth of rain... We got we had even more, I was soaked, I fear i might have a cold, so thats going to be fun for the next few days.   
Adrien wasn’t at school today… at least i had one day without embracing myself.   
  
_Dear Diary, Tuesday_

We have a large order for the bakery today which means all hands on deck because they decide to place the order late. So 400 macaroons in two days will be tough, I’m really not looking forward to it.   
Science project… This is going to be difficult, at least its on astrology, I just have to choose a planet to research. I might choose Mercury or maybe Mars, I really don’t know, the gas planets seem hard.   
  
_Dear Diary, Wednesday._

I am covered in frosting.   
Spent my lunch break baking.   
  
_Dear Diary, Thursday_

Chat offered to cover my mid-day patrol so I’m  ~~still~~  still baking, I have 80 macaroons left to bake, I should be done in about an hour.   
~~~~   
Chat seemed different, I wonder whats wrong… he was very tight lipped, he didn’t even crack a joke, I’ll have to ask him about it  ~~tommorow~~  tomorrow, maybe he’ll tell me.   
  
_Dear Diary, Friday_

Chat… he seemed better today, he didn’t open up to any of my questions, I didn’t pry too much, I really just asked if he was okay over and over again. He cracked a few jokes but he didn’t seem to put his heart into them, I’ll try harder to find out whats wrong tomorrow.   
I’ve decided to do two science projects, one on each project then decide between the two.   
And 400 macaroons, never again… I’m never baking that much again.   
  
_Dear Diary, Sunday_

Chat didn’t show for patrol today, he seemed fine yesterday, maybe it was an act… I don’t…   
I’m going to get to the bottom of this.   
Did you know Mercury and Mars was first observed through a telescope  by Galileo, Mars ( 1610 ) Mercury ( ? )   
I need to do more research.   
  
_Dear Diary, Monday._

Still no Chat, Tikki says not to worry but i can’t help myself.   
school was school, I managed to trip into a pile of paint so that was fun, I had to sit through art class before I could head home for lunch where I was finally able to clean myself up, I swear I still have green paint in my hair.   
and my plans for tonight… Homework…   
  
  
_Dear Diary, Wednesday_

I found out why Chat didn’t show…   
His mother, he didn’t elaborate much but… she’s been gone a while, thats pretty much all I could understand through his tears, he seemed exhausted too, I can see how much he misses her.   
I feel helpless to help him, the only thing i can thing of is to give him some of my mothers’ special soup, I’ll ask her to make some tonight hopefully just in time for our nightly patrol.   
Maybe I’ll think of more... 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come Follow Me On [Tumblr](https://leswansong.tumblr.com/)ヾ(〃^∇^)ﾉ


	28. Day Twenty-Eight - Alternate Career

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I legit had no idea what to write for this prompt so have some Adrien in this Month of Marinette.

“Marinette? What are you doing?”

    

“Nothing Adrien, Nothing to worry about, I promise.”

 

Her voice was still quivering from the tears, she was tossing her sketchbooks into a box, not caring if they were going to end up damaged, she had had a meeting with his father, one that he would not have known about if Natalie hadn’t accidentally handed him his fathers schedule after school. He knew his father had said something, Years of his father's harsh words had hardened Adrien against them, nothing he said hurt him anymore, he was used to his disappointment of a father, Marinette had yet to have the amount experience he had had.

 

“Mari,” he whispered softly, “what did he do?”

 

She continued throwing her books into the box, He knew that when she didn’t answer him she was trying her best not to lie to him.

 

“Marinette?”

    

“Adrien, Please don’t.”

 

“Just tell me, how bad?”

    

“Bad.”

 

“I’m sorry.”

    

“Don’t be, I’ll get over it.”

 

She turned around and gave him her heart-melting smile, the tears still slowly falling down her cheeks.

 

“I’ll be fine Adrien, I promise.”

 

Adrien couldn’t shake the feeling that she wouldn’t be.

 

* * *

 

He noticed that Marinette had stopped carrying her sketchbook around, it had taken a few days to figure out that the pastel pink bound was missing from her stack of books.

 

“Hey, Alya?”

    

“Hmm?”

 

“Marinette, her sketchbook, what happened to it?”

    

“Your guess is as good as mine, I tried asking but she won’t tell me. Maybe you’ll have better luck.”

 

“Maybe,” he murmured to himself.

 

A plan quickly formed inside his head.

 

Adrien hid behind her open locker door, he tried to talk to her alone all day but finally found his opening at the end of the lunch bell.

 

“Hey, Mari.”

   

She jumped at the sound of his voice, “Adrien?”

 

“You know how hard it is to find you alone?”

    

“That hard?” She replied playfully.

 

“Yeah, There was something I wanted to ask you,” he started to walk her slowly towards her class.

    

“Must be important then,” she said walking beside her.

 

“Your sketchbook seems to have disappeared from your stack of books.”

    

“It has, it was distracting me from my school work, so I decided to start leaving it at home.”

 

Marinette was a terrible liar always had been, Adrien was going to get to the bottom of why her sketchbook had disappeared from her hands.

 

He paused out the front of Marinette’ classroom.

 

“Well, here we are My Lady, your destination.”

    

“I’ll see you tonight then Minou?”

 

“Of course My Lady,” he whispered bringing her hand to his lips, “Unless there’s an Akuma of course.”

    

“Of course, Goodbye Adrien.”

 

His eyes followed her until she sat down at her desk before he moved towards his own class.

 

“Plagg?”

    

“I know what you're going to ask me, kid.”

 

“And that is?”

    

“You want me to ask Tikki why your lover has stopped carrying a book around.”

 

“Thank you Plagg.”

    

“There just better be extra cheese.”

 

* * *

 

Adrien waited patently below his girlfriend's window for his Kwami to emerge. He watched the street across from him looking for any indication of someone recognizing him, he didn’t want his father to find out that he had yet again snuck out of the house. Feeling slightly self-conscious he pulled his hood further towards his face in an attempt to hide who he was even more.

 

“Pst… Kid.”

    

“Plagg?”

 

“Yes, it's me, who else calls you kid.”

    

“Sorry.”

 

“We better start moving.”

    

“Right.”

 

Following Plagg’s request, Adrien started down the street towards home.

 

“So what did you find out?”

    

“That you really need to sit down at talk to her before talking to your father.”

 

“What's that supposed to mean.”

    

“If Bug finds out that you used me to talk to Tikki to find out why she is going to be extremely pissed at you.”

 

“So soon?”

    

“Yes, and not in the suit, please don’t talk to her in the suit.”

 

“I wasn’t planning on it.”

    

“Good.”

 

* * *

 

Adrien sat comfortably on Marinettes bed absentmindedly watching the movie on the laptop between the two, he had been skating around the topic of the meeting with his father for several days now and he wasn’t making any headway he needed to just rip the bandaid off and just get to right to the burning question, he waited an extra few minutes as he tried to figure out what to say.

 

“Mari?”

    

“Hmm…”

 

“What did my father say to you when you had that meeting a few weeks ago?”

    

“Nothing.”

 

“You seemed pretty upset about it though.”

    

“Yeah… I did…”

 

“Please tell me why-”

    

“Adrien.”

“Mari, please.”

 

He looked over towards her, he was silently pleading that she would give in and tell him.

 

“I don’t want to talk about it,” she muttered.

    

“I can tell you don’t, you’ve been avoiding answering any questions about it.”

 

“Adrien please don’t push.”

    

“Mari I’m trying to do right by you and not find out through someone else, so please just tell me.”

 

She seemed to ponder what he had said for a while before reaching towards the pause button on the movie.

 

“He asked me to give up my career as a designer.”

    

“What!”

 

“Well not exactly he asked me to choose between you and my career so I gave up my career, there are hundreds of jobs out there and I’ve looked into studying for a few…”

    

“You’re not giving up your career Mari.”

 

She didn’t seem to hear what he had said and continued to ramble on, “I’ve looked into becoming a florist, I’ve got my small garden upstairs but I’ve always wanted to expand it a little.”

 

“Marinette, listen to me.”

 

“So I wouldn’t be restricted to my rooftop with them…”

 

“Marinette,” he snapped, forcing the girl to look at him, “you are not going to give up the career that you’ve wanted since before I met you, my father can do many things but he can not make you give up your career.”

 

“Adrien maybe an alternate career…”

 

He cut her off before she could finish, “You can choose another career but you are not doing it because my father forced you to.”

 

He could see her words had affected her, they had made her see reason.

 

“Adrien,” she said softly, “don’t do anything stupid.”

 

“I’ll try not to.”

 

“Promise me you won’t.”

 

“Okay, Mari I won’t.”

 

* * *

 

Adrien tried to hold back the anger currently bubbling away inside of him, he wanted to have a normal civilized talk with his father to explain to him that although he appreciated his concern Adrien didn’t need his protection anymore. It was a nice plan, it was simple just the way he liked it, only one thing could go wrong and it did.

 

He ignored Natalie’s protest as he pushed open the door, his father was standing at an open window with his back to the door, he could see that he was on the phone, it was most likely a business call, Adrien didn’t exactly care as he plucked the phone from his fathers hand pressing the end call button in the process, there was already an angry scowl on his face.

 

“Why did you ask Marinette to give up being a designer, you know how good she is otherwise you wouldn’t have picked her as the winner of so many of your contests.”

 

Adrien could feel the anger flow freely through him now.

 

“I’m not a child anymore, I don’t need you to protect me, I don’t want you too, I don’t want you influencing my friends to give up something they actually enjoy, you tried to do it with Nino, I won’t let you do it to anyone else.”

 

He stopped to catch is breath for a moment, he hadn’t realized how high he had raised his voice, he was pretty sure it was the highest he had ever raised it to his father.

 

He watched as his father tried to respond to his son's sudden outburst.

 

“Don’t bother,” Adrien whispered, his voice full of sorrow as he turned away from his father not wanting to look at the man anymore.

 

He slowly walked out of his father's office towards his room, he didn’t stop the small tears from falling down his face. He slammed the door to his bedroom and crumpled up on the sofa.

 

“Kid… I’m proud of you.”

 

A small smile formed across the boy’s lips.

 

“Thanks, Plagg,” his voice slightly quivering from the tears.

 

“Call your girlfriend, she’ll cheer you up.”

 

He took Plagg’s advise, sliding his phone out of his pocket.

 

* * *

 

Marinette was surprised at the sound of her phone ringing, even more surprised to see that it was her boyfriend. She picked it up and answered it

 

“Marinette?” his voice crackled through the receiver

 

“Hello Adrien, what’s up?”

 

“I… I spoke to my father, if… if you still want to be a designer, you don’t have to worry about him ruining your career or anything really.”

 

“Adrien I asked-“

 

“I know, you asked me not do to anything stupid but you bend over backwards for me and everyone around you, I wanted to repay the favour.”

 

She could feel her cheeks grow red, she never realised that her boyfriend could be so kind.

 

“Adrien-“

 

“Don’t thank me yet okay please wait until you see me next which-“

 

Marinette panicked when she heard the ending beeps of the call but then she heard the familiar thunk of heavy boots on the balcony above.

 

“-Is right now.”

 

“Isn’t there a better way to do that, that doesn’t scare me.”

 

“Sorry, Princess… So are you going to pursue your dream career or…”

 

“I…” Marinette hadn’t really thought about it, she had been willing to give up her career if it meant being able to see Adrien but now she wasn’t sure, “I’d have to think about it.”

 

“Well, My Lady, whatever you choose you are free to make it.”

 

“Thank-you, kitty.”

 

“No problem, My Lady."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come Follow Me On [Tumblr](https://leswansong.tumblr.com/)ヾ(〃^∇^)ﾉ


	29. Day Twenty-Nine - Momi-nette

Marinette groaned as she tried to slow her children down, they quickly brushed past her for the fourth time, she yelled after them ordering them to slow down. Marinette knew she would never be able to catch up to them, the cold winding walls of their father's old childhood home were still confusing to her no matter how many hours she had spend navigating them.

 

“You’re still trying to catch them, Bug?”

 

She glared at her husband, “when they break something I-“

 

“They won’t trust me and do you really care if they do.”

 

She let out a sigh, “Not really… I just don’t want to deal with the consequences if they do.”

 

“My Father really can’t do anything once it's happened, he’ll have to realize that they are children and accidents happen, so please stop worrying.”

 

“I’m a mother Adrien, I’m going to worry.”

 

“That you are Bugaboo,” he whispered as he pulled her closer to kiss her forehead, “we best go see the grumpy man before he decides to reschedule again.”

 

“I still can’t believe that he did that.”

 

“He’s not the best father in the world but he’s the only one I’ve got, well apart from yours but that goes without saying.”

 

“He better not lecture me about my parenting skills again, I’m still upset about that.”

 

“He won’t because he won’t want to risk me going on strike again, the chaos it caused was extensive, trust me Bug he won’t.”

 

Marinette hummed in agreement, “Thank you,” she whispered.

 

* * *

 

Marinette smiled as she watched her children running around playing in the large open room, Adrien had always said the room was too large and open for him, that the room was filled with distractions to keep him ignorant to the fact he was locked away like a prized bird, but the sight of them having fun in what was really a large playroom warmed her heart.

 

“Mommy! Mommy! Look what I found!” She looked over towards her youngest, Emma, in her hands was the case for Ultimate Mecha Strike III, “Will you play it with me?”

 

“Of course little one, do you know where the controller is?”

 

The girl quickly glanced around the room before she shrugged her shoulders.

 

Marinette frowned, “Maybe you should check that cupboard over there,” she pointed over towards the cupboard over where the bed used to be. Emma smiled before running over and throwing open the doors.

 

“Found them!” She ran back towards her mother placing the controllers in her hands, “now can we play, please… please…”

 

“Calm down Emma, we can play.”

 

“Yay!’ the girl cheered as she followed her mother towards the tv set.

 

Marinette booted up the old gaming system and tv, the familiar starting music brought back memories. She went through the motions as she started setting up a one on one match. She tried to hold her skills back as she played against her daughter, they had amassed a small crowd as her two other children had slowly joined them on the white sofa, the controllers were passed between the four and hours quickly passed by.

 

“Well, what do we have here?”

 

Marinette’s head snapped around to see Adrien standing behind her, “Oh you know just a friendly one on one pop match,” she joked.

 

“I would challenge you but we have to get going otherwise we are going to miss dinner with your parents.”

 

A collective set of groans rang out from the three children as they reluctantly dragged their feet towards the door, Marinette let out a sigh as well as she followed her children out the door.

 

“How’d the meeting go?” She asked her husband.

 

“I’ll tell you at dinner,” Adrien responded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come Follow Me On [Tumblr](https://leswansong.tumblr.com/)ヾ(〃^∇^)ﾉ


	30. Day Thirty: Breaking Point

Marinette ran towards her 5th Akuma of that day, her side stung from the nasty cut from the third Akuma Steel Blade, the torn piece of fabric that was the white overshirt of her crush was now thickly stained with her own blood, she winced feeling the last of her makeshift stitches snap, she wouldn’t last much longer, her vision had already started to blur from the amount of blood loss.

 

Hawkmoth had tried overwhelming them before with two many Akuma's now it seemed he was trying to tire them out.

 

Her earring’s beeped their 4th and final warning as she struggled to retreat back to her room, she glanced behind her to see her attempts of loosing ‘Sleepless Death’ had failed, she was still on Marinette’s heels, she screamed Hawkmoth’s demands at the wounded hero, it had been the same thing for hours, hand over the phone but thankfully it was safely stashed in her partners pocket.

 

Marinette stubbled and slipped as she got closer and closer to the small wall divider, from rooftop to potted plant balcony. She rolled over it and into the open trapdoor leading into her room, she slammed it shut and barricaded herself inside, retreating to the floor below and into the small apartments bathroom she allowed her transformation to fall, her Kwami was a pale pink instead of her normal red. Marinette felt her face drain of blood at the sight.

 

“I'm sorry Tikki.”

 

She cradled her close to her chest

feeling a few tears fall from her eyes.

 

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered.

 

“I’ll be fine Marinette, just let me rest for a bit, I haven’t had to transform someone this much in a very long time, I’m just a little tired that's all.”

 

“Tikki…”

 

She looked down to see the bright blue eyes of her Kwami staring back at her.

 

“I’ll be fine Marinette, trust me, you need to focus on your self right now.”

 

Marinette spied her small wooden medical box safely hidden under the bassinet, she reached towards it but snapped back to her position against the bathroom door as pain shot through her side. She groaned slamming her head against the door, she needed that box, Tikki seemed to understand that and slowly started pushing it towards her, she gripped it between her feet and slowly pulled it towards herself until it was within reach.

 

Stashed inside was some of her sharpest sewing needles, several containers of dental floss, a pair of small pair of collapsible scissors and a small bottle of whiskey.

 

She grabbed the bottle and dabbed a small amount onto a nearby towel before pressing it to her side, she yelped at the serge of pain as the alcohol did its job, she prepared her needle and thread and removed the towel.

 

“Tikki? I don’t want to be Ladybug anymore, I’m tired.”

 

She gritted her teeth as she pulled the dental floss through her skin, she was holding back a whimper as she continued re-stitching the cut on her side.

 

“Marinette… you’re nearly there, please see this though.”

 

She doused her side in more alcohol feeling the painful sting return in her side.

 

“I’m tired, I don’t want to fight anymore, I’m done.”

 

She reapplied some more alcohol before returning to stitching.

 

“Please Marinette…”

 

“What do you want me to do?”

 

“Fight, Fight until Hawkmoth is defeated.”

 

“I’ve been doing that for 3 years now, how much longer will I be fighting for?”

 

“Hawkmoth is desperate right now, why do you think he has sent 5 Akuma's after you today, he’s losing patience, please Marinette…”

 

She looked down at the Kwami’s pleading eyes and knew she couldn’t say no.

 

She let out a sigh placing down her medical sewing kit, “Okay Tikki, I’ll… stay."

 

The bright blue eyes staring at her lit up at her words, “Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you Marinette.”

 

“Calm down Tikki, I’ll… I’ll fight this Akuma and afterwards… we’ll talk about it, I still want to…”

 

“Okay Marinette, we’ll talk…”

 

“Thank you, Tikki.”

 

“I’m ready when you are.”

 

She smiled and called for her transformation and quietly snuck out the bakery’s side door back onto the streets of Paris.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come Follow Me On [Tumblr](https://leswansong.tumblr.com/)ヾ(〃^∇^)ﾉ


	31. Day Thirty-One: Kwami Swap

Marinette stared down at the silver ring on her finger how it got there she had no clue but it there it sat gleaming in the bright sunny autumn afternoon. She wrapped her pink scarf around her neck as a cold breeze blew past and hurried off in the direction of the Guardian.

 

“Bug slow down.”

 

Marinette did as the voice commanded and slowed her pace.

 

“Thank-you, please tell me you don’t do that to Tikki.”

 

“Sorry Plagg, but no I don’t do that to Tikki, We need to see the Guardian,” she grabbed hold of Plagg and quickly stuffed him inside her purse ignoring his protests. 

 

“Bug, rule one, no manhandling.”

 

“Plagg someone could have seen you so I had too.”

 

“No manhandling.”

 

“Okay I won’t ‘manhandle’ you,” she responded sarcastically.

 

The Kwami glared back at her before diving further into the pink bag. Marinette continued towards Master Fu’s massage parlour.

 

* * *

 

“Hmmm, this is very odd Marinette, did you feel the earring leave your ears?”

 

“No… was I supposed to?”

 

The old man ignored her and continue flicking through his books.

 

“The Akuma what was his name again?”

 

“Some English saying… 'Old Switcheroo’ something like that but his abilities didn’t… do… anything…”

 

“I believe we have uncovered what has occurred here.”

 

* * *

 

The rooftop was brightly lit as the moon slowly rose high into the night sky, fresh snow covered the tiles only her paw print tread footsteps were imprinted in them. She shivered in the cold night breeze, she wished she had brought a jacket but the pink had clashed with the green so she decided to leave it behind. She looked down at the clock on the small screen hidden on the baton and let out a small sigh her partner was now an hour late, she was a little bit frustrated, he had been late before but never to this extent.

 

“I never thought I would see you in that suit again,” he purred.

 

She smiled in relief before turning to face him, “hush kitten, now is not the time for flirting, are you… since when have you had your ears pierced.”

 

All through his hair was long and normally covered his ears but she could just see the red studs peaking out from his golden locks.

 

“I haven’t”

 

“Oh kitten, tell me they didn’t-“

 

He slowly nodded his head, “It was painful at first but I quickly got used to it.”

 

Marinette took a step towards him, “I was too chicken when I had my ears pierced, I had to have them done one at a time.”

 

Her partner smirked at her comment, “Very funny, how are we going to exchange our Miraculous back.”

 

“Whenever we want,” she said with a shrug.

 

“So in about a week?” he joked.

 

“If you really want to.”

 

Marinette had been thinking about keeping Plagg for a few days the small cat she had likened to a kitten, she had grown fond of him in the few hours she had had him so far.

 

“I didn’t think you would take that seriously.”

 

“Did you want to swap right now?”

 

“No, no, no, I’m fine with you having Plagg for a few days as long as you’re fine without Tikki.”

 

“She knows where to find me.”

 

“You thought this through?”

 

“Mmhhmm.”

 

* * *

 

Marinette called for her transformation forcibly pulling Plagg into the ring, she bounded towards her trap door and up into the cold winter air towards the loud heavy booms of what she presumed was an Akuma.

 

“My Lady!”

 

She turned to see him running behind her, she smiled and slowed her pace a little for him to catch up.

 

“You see the Akuma yet?” he asked.

 

She shook her head, “Sorry, I’m in the same boat as you, no clue.”

 

“Sounds large.”

 

“Could be explosions.”

 

“True,” he said with a shrug, “What’s your plan?”

 

“I’m not the one wearing the spots right now.”

 

“You… Want me to take the lead?”

 

“I don’t see what's wrong with it.”

 

“Okay then…” he said with a shrug, “Did you want to spit see if we could narrow down where the item is?”

 

“Sure, I’ll go left.”

 

* * *

 

Marinette felt her fingers tingle as the destructive power culminated in her palm, she quickly pressed her hand to the steel rod that supported the bridge sending the platform and the Akuma crashing into The Seine. She nodded her head giving her partner the signal, he placed the baton in his mouth preparing to use the respirator function and he dove into the murky water, she gripped the end of the yo-yo tight in her hand, Waves of foam bubbled to the surface as the large lava creature thrashed in the waters below.

 

She could see the steam slowly rise from the surface of the water, “come on Chat,” she murmured under her breath, she anxiously tapped her foot against the concrete sidewalk, still praying to see him resurface, she gripped the sting of the yo-yo tighter in her grasp waiting patiently for the three sharp tugs to pull him back to the surface.

 

The yo-yo was almost ripped from her hands as the three sharp tugs came from the waters below, she pulled with all her strength and quickly pull her partner from the water.

 

“Chat! Chat are you okay?”

 

“I’m… I’m fine…” he said trying to catch his breath.

 

“The Butterfly?”

 

“In the yo-yo, I managed to catch it while I was in the water.”

 

“You should probably call the cure.”

 

He nodded his head an through the yo-yo into the air and the familiar swarm of tiny Ladybug’s spread around the streets of Paris fixing the damage Hawkmoth’s Akuma had caused.

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come Follow Me On [Tumblr](https://leswansong.tumblr.com/)ヾ(〃^∇^)ﾉ


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